THE «PAST,  ^SE  PRESENT, 


AND 


FUTURE.   » 


BY 


H.    C.    CAREY, 

AUTHOR   OF   "PRINCIPLES   OF   POLITICAL   ECONOMY,"  Sec. 


IF   ANT   MAN    WILL   DO   HIS   WILL.   HE    SHALL   KNOW   OF   THE   DOCTRINE. 
WHETHER   IT    BE    OF   OOD-JJB-WfiBHKER   I   SPEAK   OF   MTSELF. 


PHILAEELP: 

HENRY     CAREY     BAIRD, 

INDUSTRIAL    PUBLISHER, 

No.    406    WALNUT    STREET. 

1869.  f 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1847,  by 

H.   C.  CAREY, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


o\ 


STEREOTYPED  BY  L.   JOHNSON  AND  Ctt 

PHILADELPHIA. 
PRINTED   BY  COLLINS. 


PREFACE. 


THE  volume  now  offered  to  the  public  is  designed  to 
demonstrate  the  existence  of  a  simple  and  beautiful  law  of 
nature,  governing  man  in  all  his  efforts  for  the  maintenance 
and  improvement  of  his  condition,  a  law  so  powerful  and 
universal  that  escape  from  it  is  impossible,  i  but  which, 
nevertheless,  has  heretofore  remained  unnoticed.  The  further 
object  of  these  pages  is,  by  aid  of  this  law,  to  examine  and 
to  solve  various  questions  of  great  interest.  In  doing  this,  it 
has  been  necessary  to  refer  to  the  history  of  various  nations, 
in  order  to  show  that  certain  causes  have  invariably  produced 
certain  effects ;  and  thus  to  account  for  the  differences  ob- 
servable in  their  present  condition,  and  in  their  modes  of 
thought  and  action.  If  in  so  doing  the  author  be  found  to 
have  expressed  himself  strongly  in  regard  to  some  of  the 
nations  of  Europe,  he  begs  the  reader  to  believe  that  he  has 
done  so  not  because  he  is  not  of  them,  but  because  they  are 
not  of  those  who  have  maintained  peace  and  permitted  the 
laws  of  nature  to  take  effect :  and  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  has 
spoken  highly  of  the  course  pursued  by  the  United  States,  and 
has  placed  in  a  strong  point  of  view  the  results  here  realised, 
he  begs  the  reader  also  to  believe  that  he  has  done  so,  not 
merely  because  he  is  of  them,  but  because  they  have,  to  an 
extent  hitherto  unprecedented,  followed  "  the  things  that  make 
for  peace  ;"  and  because  they,  less  than  any  other  people,  have 

1*  5 


6  PREFACE. 

interfered  with  the  great  natural  laws  under  which  man  lives, 
and  moves,  and  has  his  being.  "God,"'  says  the  wise  man, 
"  hath  made  man  upright,  but  he  has  sought  out  many  inven- 
tions." We  find  fewer  of  these  "  inventions"  in  the  history 
of  the  United  States  than  in  that  of  any  other  nation,  and  it 
is  due  to  the  great  cause  of  Truth  and  Human  Happiness  to 
exhibit  as  strongly  as  possible  the  contrast  between  the  unre- 
stricted operation  of  the  laws  of  God  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
results  of  the  "  inventions"  of  man,  on  the  other. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  1.    MAN    AND    LAND 9 

II.    MAN    AND   FOOD.. 77 

III.  WEALTH 94 

IV.  WEALTH   AND   LAND 137 

V.    MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD   OF   VALUE 157 

VI.    MAN    AND  HIS    FELLOW  MAN 212 

VII.    MAN 247 

VIII.    MAN    AND   HIS    HELPMATE 262 

IX.    MAN    AND   HIS    FAMILY 274 

X.  CONCENTRATION    AND    CENTRALIZATION  284 

XI.    COLONIZATION 315 

XII.    IRELAND 378 

XIII.  INDIA 392 

XIV.  ANNEXATION 410 

XV.    CIVILIZATION 415 

THE    FUTURE 429 

7 


Library* 

California' 


THE  LESSON  OF  THE  PAST 


TO 


THE  PRESENT.      '"'•'• 


•  O      ,   •   J        .  _. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MAN     AND     LAND. 

THE  first  cultivator,  the  Robinson  Crusoe  of  his  day, 
provided  however  with  a  wife,  has  neither  axe  nor  spade. 
He  works  alone.  Population  being  small,  land  is,  of 
course,  abundant.  He  may  select  for  himself,  without 
fear  of  his  title  being  disputed.  He  is  surrounded  by 
soils  possessed,  in  the  highest  possible  degree,  of  the 
qualities  that  fit  them  for  yielding  large  returns  to  labour. 
They  are,  however,  covered  with  immense  trees  that  he 
cannot  fell,  or  they  are  swamps  that  he  cannot  drain. 
To  pass  through  them  even  is  attended  with  no  small 
difficulty.  The  first  is  a  mass  of  roots,  stumps,  decay- 
ing logs,  and  shrubs,  while  into  the  other  he  sinks  half 
leg  deep  at  every  step.  The  atmosphere,  too,  is  impure. 
Fogs  settle  upon  the  low  lands,  and  the  dense  foliage 
of  the  wood  prevents  the  circulation  of  the  air.  He  has 
no  axe,  but  if  he  had,  he  would  not  venture  there,  for  to 
do  so,  would  be  attended  with  certain  loss  of  health  and 
great  risk  of  life.  Vegetation,  too,  is  so  luxuriant,  that 
before  he  could,  with  the  imperfect  machinery  at  his 
command,  clear  a  single  acre,  a  portion  of  it  would  be 
again  so  overgrown  that  he  would  have  to  recom- 
mence his  labour,  which  would  be  almost,  if  not  quite, 
that  of  Sisyphus.  The  higher  lands,  comparatively  bare 
of  timber,  are  ill  calculate  1  to  yield  a  return  to  his 
B  9 


10  MAN    AND    LAND. 

labour.  Nevertheless  there  are  spots  on  the  hill  where 
the  thin  soil  has  prevented  the  growth  of  trees  and  shrubs, 
or  there  are  spaces  among  the  trees,  that  can  be  culti- 
vated while  they  still  remain  standing,  and  when  he  pulls 
up  by  the  roots  the  few  shrubs  scattered  over  the  surface, 
he  feels  no  apprehension  of  their  being  speedily  replaced. 
VvTith  his  hands  he  may  even  succeed  in  barking  the 
trees,  or,  by  the  aid  of  fire,  he  may  so  far  destroy  them 
that  time  alone  is  needed  to  give  him  a  few  cleared  acres, 
upon  which  he  may  plant  his  grain,  with  little  fear  of 
weeds.  To  attempt  these  things  upon  the  richer  lands 
would  be  loss  of  labour.  In  some  places  the  ground  is 
always  wet.  In  others,  the  trees  are  too  large  to  be  seri- 
ously injured  by  fire,  and  its  only  effect  would  be  to  stimu- 
late the  growth  of  weeds  and  brush.  He,  therefore, 
commences  the  work  of  cultivation  far  up  the  hill,  where, 
making  with  his  stick  holes  in  the  light  soil  that  drains 
itself,  he  drops  the  grain  an  inch  or  two  below  the  sur- 
face, and  in  due  season  obtains  a  return  of  double  the 
amount  of  his  seed.  He  pounds  this  between  stones, 
and  obtains  bread.  His  condition  is  improved.  He  has 
succeeded  in  making  the  earth  labour  for  him,  while 
himself  engaged  in  trapping  rabbits  or  squirrels,  and 
in  gathering  fruits.  In  process  of  time,  he  succeeds  in 
sharpening  a  stone,  and  thus  obtains  a  hatchet  by  aid  of 
which  he  is  enabled  to  proceed  more  rapidly  in  girdling 
the  trees,  and  in  removing  the  sprouts  and  their  roots, 
which  is  nevertheless  a  very  slow  and  laborious  opera- 
tion. At  the  next  step,  we  find  him  bringing  into  acti- 
vity a  new  soil,  whose  food-producing  powers  were  less 
obvious  to  sight  than  those  of  that  first  attempted.  He 
finds  an  ore  of  copper,  and  by  the  aid  of  some  of  his 
fallen  and  decayed  timber,  succeeds  in  burning  it,  and 
thus  obtains  a  better  axe,  with  far  less  labour  than  was 
required  for  the  first.  He  has  also  something  like  a  spade. 


MAN    AND    LAND.  11 

He  can  now  make  holes  four  inches  deep  with  less  la- 
bour than  with  his  stick  he  could  make  those  of  two. 
He  penetrates  to  a  lower  soil,  and  being  enabled  to  stir 
the  earth  and  loosen  it,  the  rain  is  now  absorbed  instead 
of  running  off  from  the  hard  ground,  and  he  finds  his  new 
one  far  better  and  more  easily  worked  than  that  upon 
which  he  has  heretofore  wasted  his  labour.  His  seed, 
better  protected,  is  less  liable  to  be  frozen  out  in  winter, 
or  parched  in  summer,  the  consequence  of  which  is  that 
he  gathers  thrice  the  quantity  sown.  His  new  soil 
gives  him  larger  returns  with  less  labour.  At  the  next 
step,  we  find  him  bringing  into  action  another  new  soil. 
He  has  found  that  which,  on  burning,  yields  him  zinc, 
and  by  combining  this  with  his  copper  he  has  brass. 
His  machinery  improves,  and  he  proceeds  more  rapidly. 
He  sinks  deeper  into  the  land  first  occupied,  and  is  en- 
abled to  clear  other  lands  upon  which  vegetation  grows 
more  luxuriantly,  because  he  can  now  exterminate  the 
shrubs  with  some  hope  of  occupying  the  land  before  they 
are  replaced  with  others  equally  valueless  for  the  sup- 
ply of  his  wants.  His  children,  too,  have  grown,  and 
they  can  weed  the  ground  and  assist  him  in  removing 
the  obstacles  by  which  his  progress  is  impeded.  At  an- 
other step,  we  find  him  burning  a  piece  of  the  iron  soil 
which  surrounds  him  in  all  directions,  and  now  he  is  en- 
abled to  obtain  a  real  axe  and  spade,  inferior  in  quality,  but 
still  much  superior  to  those  by  which  his  labour  has  been 
thus  far  aided.  He  next,  with  the  aid  of  his  sons,  grown 
to  man's  estate,  removes  the  light  pine  of  the  hill-side, 
leaving  still  untouched,  however,  the  heavy  oak  of  the 
river  bottom.  His  cultivable  ground  is  increased  in  ex- 
tent, while  he  is  enabled  with  his  spade  to  penetrate  still 
deeper  than  before,  thus  bringing  into  action  the  powers 
of  the  several  soils  lying  within  half  a  dozen  inches  of  the 
surface.  He  finds,  with  great  pleasure,  that  the  light 


12  MAN   AND    LAND. 

soil  is  underlaid  with  clay,  and  that  by  combining  the 
two  he  obtains  a  new  one  far  more  productive  than  that 
first  brought  into  activity.  He  finds,  too,  that  by  turning 
the  top  soil  down,  the  process  of  decomposition  is  facili- 
tated, and  that  thus,  with  each  new  operation,  he  receives 
an  increasing  reward  for  his  labour.  His  family  has  in- 
creased, and  he  has  obtained  the  important  advantage 
of  combination  of  exertion.  Things  that  were  needed  to 
be  done  to  render  his  land  more  rapidly  productive,  but 
which  were  to  one  man  impracticable,  become  simple  and 
easy  when  now  attempted  by  himself  and  his  half  dozen 
sons,  each  of  whom  obtains  far  more  food  than  he  alone 
could  at  first  command,  and  in  return  for  far  less  severe 
exertion.  He  next  extends  his  operations  downwards, 
towards  the  low  grounds  of  the  stream,  girdling  the  large 
trees,  and  burning  the  brush,  and  thus  facilitating  the  pas- 
sage of  air  so  as  to  render  the  land  by  degrees  fitted  for 
occupation.  He  now  finds  that  his  sons  can  perform  all 
the  labours  of  the  field,  and  that  by  devoting  his  own  at- 
tention to  the  cultivation  of  the  iron  soil,  he  can  render 
more  aid,  and  with  less  severe  labour,  than  in  any  other 
manner.  He  invents  a  hoe,  by  means  of  which  his  grand- 
children are  enabled  to  keep  the  ground  free  from  weeds, 
and  to  tear  up  some  of  the  roots  by  wrhich  his  best  lands 
- — those  last  brought  into  cultivation — are  yet  infested. 
He  has  succeeded  in  taming  the  ox,  but  as  yet  has  had 
no  use  for  his  sendees.  He  now  invents  the  plough,  and 
by  means  of  a  piece  of  twisted  hide  is  enabled  to  attach 
the  ox,  and  to  turn  up  a  deeper  soil,  while  extending  his 
cultivation  over  land  more  distant  from  the  place  of  his 
first  little  cabin,  on  the  spot  first  occupied.  His  family 
grows,  and  with  it  grows  his  wealth.  He  has  better  ma- 
rhinery,  and  he  has  reduced  to  cultivation  more  and  bet- 
ter lands.  Food  and  clothing  are  more  abundant,  and 
the  air  on  the  lower  lands  is  improved  by  the  clearing  of 


1UAN    AND    LAND.  13 

the  trees.  His  house,  too,  is  better.  In  the  outset,  it  was 
a  hole  in  the  ground.  Afterwards  it  was  composed  of  such 
decayed  logs  as  his  unaided  efforts  could  succeed  in  roll- 
ing and  placing  one  upon  the  other.  A  chimney  was  an 
unhoped-for  luxury,  and  he  must  live  in  perpetual  smoke, 
or  almost  perish  of  cold.  A  window  was  a  luxury  un- 
thought  of.  If  the  severity  of  the  weather  required  him 
to  close  his  doors,  he  was  stifled  with  smoke,  and  he 
passed  his  days  in  darkness.  His  time,  therefore,  during 
a  large  portion  of  the  year,  was  totally  unproductive, 
while  his  life  was  liable  to  be  shortened  by  disease  pro- 
duced by  foul  air  within,  or  severe  cold  without,  his 
miserable  hut.  With  increase  of  population  he  has  ac- 
quired wealth,  derived  from  the  cultivation  of  new  and 
better  soils ;  and  he  has  acquired  also  the  power  of  com- 
bining his  labour  with  that  of  others,  thus  rendering 
that  of  all  more  productive.  They  now  fell  the  heavy 
oak  and  the  enormous  pine,  and  avail  themselves  thereof 
for  the  construction  of  additional  houses,  each  in  regular 
succession  better  than  the  first.  Health  improves,  and 
population  increases  more  rapidly.  Some  of  the  sons 
are  now  employed  in  the  field,  while  others  prepare  the 
skins  and  render  them  more  fit  for  clothing:  and  a  third 
set  make  axes,  spades,  hoes,  ploughs,  and  other  imple- 
ments calculated  to  aid  the  labours  of  the  field,  and  those 
of  construction.  The  supply  of  food  increases  rapidly,  and 
with  it  the  power  of  accumulation.  In  the  first  years, 
there  was  perpetual  danger  of  famine.  Now,  there  is  a 
surplus,  and  a  part  is  stored  to  provide  against  the  dan- 
ger of  short  crops.  Cultivation  extends  itself  along  the 
hill-side,  where  deeper  soils  now  laid  open  by  the  plough, 
afford  a  better  return,  while  down  the  slope  of  the  hill  each 
successive  year  is  marked  by  the  disappearance  of  the 
great  trees  by  which  the  richer  lands  have  heretofore  been 
occupied,  the  intermediate  spaces  becoming  meanwhile 

2 


14  MAN    AND    LAND. 

enriched  by  the  decomposition  of  the  enormous  roots,  and 
more  readily  ploughed  because  of  the  gradual  decay  of 
the  stumps.  A  single  ox  to  the  plough  can  now  turn  up 
a  greater  space  than  in  the  outset  could  be  done  by  two. 
A  single  ploughman  can  now  do  more  than  on  the  groun^ 
first  cultivated  could  have  been  done  by  a  hundred  men 
armed  with  pointed  sticks.  The  family  are  next  enabled 
to  drain  some  of  the  lower  lands,  and  copious  harvests 
of  grain  are  obtained  from  the  new  soil  now  first  cultivated. 
The  oxen  have  heretofore  roamed  the  woods,  gathering 
wrhat  they  could.  The  meadow  is  now  granted  to  their 
use,  the  axe  and  the  saw  enabling  the  family  to  enclose 
them,  and  thus  to  lessen  the  labour  attendant  upon  ob- 
taining supplies  of  meat,  milk,  butter  and  hides.  Here- 
tofore their  chief  domestic  animal  has  been  the  hog, 
which  could  live  on  mast.  Now,  they  add  beef,  and  per- 
haps mutton,  the  lands  first  cultivated  being  abandoned 
to  the  sheep.  They  obtain  far  more  meat  and  grain,  and 
with  less  labour  than  at  any  former  period,  although  their 
numbers  have  so  greatly  increased.  The  father  and 
grandfather  have  passed  away,  and  the  younger  generations 
are  now  profiting  by  the  wealth  they  had  accumulated, 
while  applying  their  own  labour  with  daily  increasing 
advantage :  and  obtaining  a  constantly  increasing  return, 
with  increasing  power  of  accumulation,  and  decreasing 
severity  of  application.  They  now  bring  new  powers 
to  their  aid,  and  the  water  no  longer  is  allowed  to  run 
to  waste :  the  air  itself  is  made  to  work.  Windmills 
grind  the  grain,  and  sawmills  cut  the  timber,  which  dis- 
appears more  rapidly,  while  the  work  of  drainage  is  in 
course  of  being  improved  by  more  efficient  spades  and 
ploughs.  The  little  furnace  makes  its  appearance  and  char- 
coal is  now  applied  to  the  reduction  of  the  soil  yielding 
iron,  when  it  is  found  that  the  labour  of  a  single  day  be- 
comes more  productive  than  was  before  that  of  half  a  dozen. 


MAN    AND    LAND.  15 

Population  spreads  itself  along  the  faces  of  the  hills 
and  down  into  the  lower  lands,  becoming  more  and 
more  dense  at  the  seat  of  the  original  settlement,  and 
with  every  step  we  find  increasing  tendency  to  com- 
bination of  action  for  the  production  of  food,  the  manufac- 
ture of  clothing  and  household  utensils,  the  construction 
of  houses,  and  the  preparation  of  machinery  for  aiding 
in  all  these  operations.  The  heaviest  timber :  that  grow- 
ing  on  the  most  fertile  land :  now  disappears,  and  the 
deepest  marshes  are  now  drained.  Roads  are  next  made 
to  facilitate  the  intercourse  between  the  old  settlement 
and  the  newer  ones  that  have  been  formed  around  it,  and 
to  enable  the  grower  of  corn  to  exchange  his  product  for 
improved  spades  and  ploughs,  and  for  clothing  and  furni- 
ture. Population  again  increases,  and  wealth  still  further 
increases,  and  therewith  man  acquires  more  leisure  for 
reflection  on  the  results  furnished  by  the  experience  of 
himself  and  his  predecessors.  His  mind  becomes  more 
and  more  stimulated  into  action.  The  sand  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood is  found  to  be  underlaid  with  marl,  and  by  the 
aid  of  the  improved  machinery  now  in  use,  the  two  are 
brought  into  combination,  thereby  producing  a  soil  of 
power  far  exceeding  that  of  those  heretofore  cultivated. 
The  return  to  labour  increases,  and  all  are  better  fed,  and 
clothed,  and  housed,  and  all  are  incited  to  new  exertions, 
while  improved  health  and  the  power  of  working  in-doors 
and  out-of-doors,  according  to  the  season,  enable  them 
to  apply  their  labour  more  steadily  and  regularly.  Thus 
far,  however,  they  have  found  it  difficult  to  gather  their 
crops  in  season.  The  harvest  time  is  short,  and  the 
whole  strength  of  the  community  has  been  found  in- 
sufficient to  prevent  much  of  the  grain  remaining  on  the 
ground  until,  over  ripe,  it  was  shaken  out  by  the  wind, 
or  in  the  attempt  to  gather  it:  and  not  unfrequently  it  has 
been  totally  ruined  by  changes  of  weather  after  it  was 


16  MAN    AND    LAND. 

fit  to  be  harvested.  The  progress  of  cultivation  has 
thereby  been  arrested,  and  labour  has  been  superabund- 
ant during  the  year,  while  harvest  produced  a  demand 
for  it  that  could  not  be  supplied.  The  reaping-hook 
takes  the  place  of  the  hand,  and  the  scythe  enables  the 
farmer  to  cut  his  hay.  The  cradle  and  the  horse-rake 
follow,  and  all  tend  to  increase  the  facility  of  accumula- 
tion, and  thus  to  increase  the  power  of  applying  labour 
to  new  soils,  deeper  or  more  distant,  more  heavily  bur- 
dened with  timber,  or  more  liable  to  be  flooded,  and 
thus  requiring  embankment  as  well  as  drainage.  New 
combinations,  too,  are  formed.  The  clay  is  found  to  be 
underlaid  with  the  soil  called  lime,  which  latter,  like  the 
iron  soil,  requires  preparation  to  fit  it  for  the  task  of  com- 
bination. The  road,  the  wagon,  and  the  horse  facilitate 
the  work,  by  enabling  the  farmer  readily  to  obtain  sup- 
plies of  the  carbon-yielding  soil,  called  coal,  and  he  now 
obtains,  by  burning  the  lime  and  combining  it  with  the 
clay,  a  better  soil  than  at  any  former  period :  one  that  will 
yield  more  corn,  and  that  requires  far  less  severe  labour 
from  himself,  his  oxen,  or  his  horses.  Population  and 
wealth  again  increase,  and  the  steam-engine  facilitates 
the  work  of  drainage,  while  the  railroad  and  the  engine 
facilitate  the  transportation  to  market  of  his  products. 
His  cattle  are  now  fattened  at  home,  and  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  produce  of  his  rich  meadow-land  is  left  at 
home,  in  the  form  of  manure,  to  be  applied  to  other  soils, 
yet  found  incapable  of  yielding  a  return  to  labour.  In- 
stead of  sending  food  to  fatten  them  at  market,  he  now 
obtains  from  market  their  refuse  in  the  form  of  bones, 
and  the  productiveness  of  labour  is  greatly  increased. 
Passing  thus,  at  every  step,  from  the  poor  to  the  better 
soils,  the  supply  of  food,  and  of  all  other  of  the  necessa- 
ries of  life  increases  daily,  and  men  consume  more,  while 
accumulating  wealth  with  constantly  increasing  rapidity. 


MAN    AND    LAND.  17 

The  danger  of  famine  and  disease  passes  away.  In- 
creased returns  to  labour  and  daily  improving  condition 
render  labour  pleasant,  and  man  applies  himself  more 
steadily  as  his  work  becomes  less  severe.  Population  in- 
creases, and  the  rapidity  of  its  increase  is  seen  to  be 
greater  with  each  successive  generation;  and  with  each  is 
seen  an  increase  of  the  power  of  living  in  connection 
with  each  other,  by  reason  of  the  power  of  obtaining  con- 
stantly increasing  supplies  from  the  same  surface  :  with 
each  is  seen  an  increase  in  the  tendency  to  combination 
of  action,  by  which  their  labours  are  rendered  more 
productive — their  wants  increased — the  desire  and  the 
facilities  of  commerce  augmented:  tending  to  produce 
harmony  and  peace,  and  security  of  person  and  property 
among  themselves,  and  with  the  world :  accompanied  by 
constant  increase  of  numbers,  wealth,  prosperity  and 
happiness. 


Nearly  forty  years  have  elapsed  since  Mr.  Ricardo 
communicated  to  the  world  his  discovery  of  the  nature 
and  causes  of  rent,  and  of  the  law  of  its  progress.  The 
work  by  means  of  which  it  was  first  made  known  has  since 
been  the  text-book  of  that  portion  of  the  English  com- 
munity, who  style  themselves,  par  excellence,  political 
economists,  and  any  thing  short  of  absolute  faith  in  its 
contents  is  regarded  as  heresy,  worthy  of  excommunica- 
tion, or  as  evidence  of  an  incapacity  to  comprehend  them, 
worthy  only  of  contempt.  Nevertheless,  imitating  in  this 
the  action  of  the  followers  of  Mahomet,  in  regard  to  the  Ko- 
ran, the  professors,  one  and  all,  who  have  undertaken  to 
teach  this  doctrine,  insist  upon  construing  it  after  their 
own  fashion,  and  modifying  it  to  suit  their  own  views 
and  the  apparent  necessities  of  the  case  ;  the  consequence 
C  2* 


18  MAN    AND    LAND. 

of  which  is,  that  the  inquirer  is  at  a  loss  to  determine 
what  it  is  that  he  is  required  to  believe.  Having  studied 
carefully  the  works  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  recent 
writers  on  the  subject,  and  having  found  no  two  of  them 
to  agree,  he  turns,  in  despair,  to  Mr.  Ricardo  himself, 
and  there  he  finds,  in  the  celebrated  chapter  on  rent,  con- 
tradictions that  cannot  be  reconciled,  and  a  series  of  com- 
plications such  as  never  before,  as  we  believe,  was  found 
in  the  same  number  of  lines.  The  more  he  studies,  the 
more  he  is  puzzled,  and  the  less  difficulty  does  he  find  in 
accounting  for  the  variety  of  doctrines  taught  by  men 
who  profess  to  belong  to  the  same  school,  and  who  all 
agree,  if  in  little  else,  in  regarding  the  new  theory  of 
rent  as  the  great  discovery  of  the  age. 

In  looking  round,  he  sees  that  all  the  recognised  laws 
of  nature  are  characterized  by  the  most  perfect  simpli- 
city, and  the  greatest  breadth.  He  sees  that  they  are  of 
universal  application,  and  that  those  by  whom  they  are 
taught  are  freed  from  any  necessity  for  resorting  to  nar- 
row exceptions  to  account  for  particular  facts.  The  sim- 
plicity of  Kepler's  law  of 'equal  areas  in  equal  times'  is 
perfect.  Its  truth  is  universal,  and  all  to  whom  it  is  ex- 
plained feel  assured  not  only  that  it  is  true,  but  that  it 
must  continue  to  be  GO  in  relation  to  all  the  planets  that 
may  be  discovered,  numerous  though  they  may  be,  and 
however  distant  from  the  sun  and  from  us.  A  child  may 
comprehend  it,  and  the  merest  novice  may  make  himself 
so  fully  master  of  it  as  to  enable  him  to  teach  it  to  others. 
It  needs  no  commentary,  no  modification.  Such  is  not 
the  case  with  the  law  to  which  we  now  desire  to  call  the 
attention  of  our  readers.  Whatever  else  may  be  its  me- 
rits, it  cannot  be  charged  with  either  simplicity  or  uni- 
versality. 

At  first  sight,  it.  looks,  however,  to  be  exceedingly 
simple.  Rent  is  said  to  be  paid  for  land  of  the  first 


MAN    AND   LAND.  19 

quality,  yielding  one  hundred  quarters  in  return  to  a  given 
quantity  of  labour,  when  it  becomes  necessary,  with  the 
increase  of  population,  to  cultivate  land  of  the  second 
quality,  capable  of  yielding  but  ninety  quarters  in  re- 
turn to  the  same  quantity  of  labour:  and  the  amount  of 
rent  then  paid  for  No.  1  is  equal  to  the  difference 
between  their  respective  products.  No  proposition 
could  be  calculated  to  command  more  universal  as- 
sent. Every  man  who  hears  it  sees  around  him  land 
that  pays  rent.  He  sees  that  that  which  yields  forty 
bushels  to  the  acre  pays  more  rent  than  that  which  yields 
but  thirty,  and  that  the  difference  is  nearly  equal  to  the 
difference  of  product.  He  becomes  at  once  a  disciple 
of  Mr.  Ricardo,  admitting  that  the  reason  why  prices  are 
paid  for  the  use  of  land  is  that  soils  are  different  in  their 
qualities,  when  he  would,  at  the  same  moment,  regard  it 
as  in  the  highest  degree  absurd  if  any  one  were  to  un- 
dertake to  prove  that  prices  are  paid  for  oxen  because  one 
ox  is  heavier  than  another :  that  rents  are  paid  for  houses 
because  some  will  accommodate  twenty  persons  and 
others  only  ten  :  or  that  all  ships  command  freights  be- 
cause some  ships  differ  from  others  in  their  capacity. 

A  certain  portion  of  the  world  now  thinks  that  it  sees 
in  this  difference  in  the  qualities  of  soils  the  reason  why 
rent  is  paid  for  any  soils.  It  is  not  a  very  large  portion, 
for  the  theory  has  made  but  little  way  out  of  England. 
It  is  taught  by  a  few  in  France,  and  by  some  in  Ame- 
rica, but  elsewhere,  it  has,  we  believe,  made  no  progress 
whatsoever,  which  wTould  certainly  not  have  been  the  case 
had  it  been,  like  other  of  the  laws  of  nature,  charac- 
terized by  that  simplicity  which  is  essential  to  universality 
of  application. 

In  former  times  it  was  obvious  to  the  whole  world  that 
the  earth  remained  unmoved,  and  that  the  sun  performed 
a  daily  revolution  around  it.  It  was  not  to  be  doubted 


20  MAN    AND    LAND. 

that  such  was  the  case,  but  if  any  one  so  far  ventured, 
he  was  referred  to  the  Scriptures  for  unquestionable  evi- 
dence of  the  fact.  Careful  observers,  however,  detected 
numerous  other  facts  whose  existence  was  incompatible 
with  that  of  the  one  great  and  universally  admitted  fact. 
Further  observation  confirmed  them  in  the  doubts  thus 
raised,  and  it  was  found,  at  length,  that,  patch  the  Ptole- 
maic theory  as  its  professors  might,  it  could  not  be  made 
to  cover  facts  whose  existence  was  undeniable.  It  was 
too  long  for  some,  and  too  short  for  others.  To  disbelieve 
it,  however,  was  rank  heresy,  worthy  not  only  of  excom- 
munication, but  of  punishment  by  fire.  Copernicus  never- 
theless dared  to  declare  his  disbelief,  and  to  proclaim  to  the 
world  that  the  sun  stood  still,  and  that  the  earth  it  was 
that  moved.  Persecution  embittered  the  remaining  years 
of  his  life,  and  his  disciple  Galileo  was  compelled,  on  his 
knees,  to  recant  his  declaration  of  belief  in  the  monstrous 
doctrine,  yet  the  whole  civilized  world  now  unites  writh 
him  in  the  assertion  that  «  still  it  moves." 

The  doctrine  of  Mr.  Ricardo  has,  in  like  manner,  been 
found  quite  too  long  for  some  facts,  and  as  much  too  short 
for  many  others,  and  hence  the  numerous  modifications 
it  has  undergone.*  Every  new  teacher  tries  to  stretch  it 

*  Among  the  earliest  and  most  distinguished  of  the  advocates  of  Mr. 
Ricardo's  doctrine  was  the  author  of  the  Templar's  Dialogues.  In  a  recent 
work  by  the  same  author  we  find  the  following  passage  : — 

"  The  tendencies  of  a  natural  law  like  that  of  rent  it  is  always  right  to 
expose,  and  Ricardo  first  did  expose  them.  Others  had  discovered  the 
law ;  he  first  applied  his  sagacious  sense  to  its  consequences  upon  pro- 
fits, wages,  price;  and  through  them  upon  universal  economy.  That 
was  right;  for  that  we  are  irredeemably  his  debtors.  But  it  was  not 
right  to  keep  studiously  out  of  sight  that  eternal  counter-movement  which 
tends,  by  an  equivalent  agency,  to  redress  the  disturbed  balance.  This 
concealment  has  had  the  effect  of  introducing  marvels  into  a  severe  sci- 
ence ;  since  else,  what  other  than  a  miracle  is  it  that  rent  has  not  long 
since  absorbed  the  whole  landed  produce — a  result  to  which  it  so  mani- 
festly tends.  *  *  *  Our  own  social  system  seems  to  harbour  within 
itself  the  germ  of  ruin.  Either  we  must  destroy  rent,  i.  e.  that  which  causes 
rent,  or  rent  will  destroy  us,"  &c. — Logic  of  Political  Economy,  p.  190. 


MAN    AND    LAND.  21 

in  the  direction  necessary  to  cover  some  well-observed 
fact,  the  consequence  of  which  is,  that  others  are  left  un- 
covered. In  the  effort  to  conceal  the  head  and  arms,  the 
feet  are  exposed,  and  when  the  cloak  is  stretched  so  as 
to  cover  the  feet  and  head,  the  arms  present  themselves 
to  view.  Such  precisely  was  the  case  with  the  system 
of  Ptolemy.  It  was  neither  broad  nor  simple.  It  was 
based  on  a  few  facts,  omitting  all  reference  to  a  thousand 
others,  and  hence  its  downfall,  the  necessary  consequence 
of  its  untruth. 

Proposing,  as  we  do,  to  submit  some  views  in  opposi- 
tion to  this  doctrine  of  the  cause  of  rent,  we  would  beg 
leave  respectfully  to  suggest  to  the  disciples  of  Mr.  Ri- 
cardo,  into  whose  hands  this  volume  may  chance  to 
fall,  that  their  confidence  in  its  truth  is  not  greater  than 
was  that  of  the  followers  of  Ptolemy :  that  the  evidence 
of  the  great  fact  upon  which  it  rests  is  not  as  obvious  as 
was  that  of  the  revolution  of  the  sun ;  nor  the  belief 
therein  quite  as  universal :  that  as  Ptolemy  was  ultimate- 
ly proved  to  be  in  error,  so  may  Mr.  Ricardo,  at  some 
time,  be  :  and  that  it  is,  therefore,  within  the  bounds  of 
possibility  that  it  may  not  be  an  entire  waste  of  time  to 
read  the  brief  examination  of  their  favourite  system  that 
we  shall  now  offer  for  their  consideration. 

That  theory,  in  its  simplest  form,  is  contained  in  the 
following  propositions  : — 

First :  That  in  the  commencement  of  cultivation,  when 
population  is  small  and  land  consequently  abundant, 


Mr.  Ricardo  taught  that  as  population  increased,  the  return  to  labour 
diminished,  and  the  power  of  accumulation  became  less.  Mr.  De 
Quincey  would  have  had  him  teach  that  as  population  increased,  the 
power  of  accumulation  also  increased,  and  that  by  aid  of  the  capital  ac- 
cumulated, the  return  to  labour  increased.  Mr.  Ricardo  did  not  conceal 
this.  He  did  not  see  it.  Mr.  De  Quincey  does  see  it,  and  a  very  little 
reflection  will  satisfy  him  that  the  facts  and  the  theory  are  totally  incon- 
sistent with  each  other. 


22  MAN    AND    LAND. 

the  best  soils :  those  capable  of  yielding  the  largest  re- 
turn, say  one  hundred  quarters,  to  a  given  quantity  of 
labour :  alone  are  cultivated. 

Second  :  That  with  the  progress  of  population,  land  be 
comes  less  abundant,  and  there  arises  a  necessity  for  cul- 
tivating that  yielding  a  smaller  return;  and  that  resort  is 
then  had  to  a  second,  and  afterwards  to  a  third  and  a 
fourth  class  of  soils,  yielding  respectively  ninety,  eighty 
and  seventy  quarters  to  the  same  quantity  of  labour. 

Third :  That  with  the  necessity  for  applying  labour 
less  productively,  which  thus  accompanies  the  growth  of 
population,  rent  arises :  the  owner  of  land  No.  1  being 
enabled  to  demand  and  to  obtain,  in  return  for  its  use,  ten 
quarters,  when  resort  is  had  to  that  of  second  quality : 
twenty  when  No.  3  is  brought  into  use,  and  thirty  when 
it  becomes  necessary  to  cultivate  No.  4. 

Fourth:  That  the  proportion  of  the  landlord  tends 
thus  steadily  to  increase  as  the  productiveness  of  labour 
decreases,  the  division  being  as  follows,  to  wit : — 

Total.  Labour.  Bent. 

At  the  first  period,  when  No.  1  alone  is  cultivated  100  100  00 

"  second  period  "  No.  1  and  2  are  cultivated  190  180  10 

«  third  period     «  No.  1,2  and  3                   «  270  240  30 

«  fourth  period   «  No.  1,2, 3  and  4               «  340  280  60 

«  fifth  period      «  No.  1,2, 3,4,  and  5          «  400  300  100 

"  sixth  period     «  No.  1,2,3, 4, 5  and  6       "  450  300  150 

«  seventh  period"  No.  1,2,3,4,  5,  6  and  7  "  490  280  210 

and  that  there  is  thus  a  tendency  to  the  ultimate  absorption 
of  the  whole  produce  by  the  owner  of  the  land,  and  to 
a  steadily  increasing  inequality  of  condition  :  the  power  of 
the  labourer  to  consume  the  commodities  which  he  pro- 
duces steadily  diminishing,  while  that  of  the  landowner 
to  claim  them,  as  rent,  is  steadily  increasing. 

Fifth  :  That  this  tendency  towards  a  diminution  in  the 
return  of  labour,  and  towards  an  increase  of  the  land- 
lord's proportion,  always  exists  where  population  in- 
creases: and  most  exists  wrhere  population  increases  most 


MAN    AND    LAND.  23 

rapidly:  but  is  in  a  certain  degree  counteracted  by 
increase  of  wealth,  producing  improvement  of  culti- 
vation. 

Sixth :  That  every  such  improvement  tends  to  retard 
the  growth  of  rents,  while  every  obstacle  to  improvement 
tends  to  increase  that  growth :  and  that,  therefore,  the 
interests  of  the  landowner  and  labourer  are  always  op- 
posed to  each  other,  rents  rising  as  labour  falls,  and  vice 
versa. 

We  hope  that  this  statement  of  the  theory  will  be 
deemed  by  its  advocates  unexceptionable.  We  desire  to 
state  it  with  perfect  fairness,  but  we  know  of  few  things 
more  difficult,  because  of  the  numerous  exceptions  and 
modifications  that  have  been  required  to  make  it  fit 
the  facts.  So  difficult,  notwithstanding,  has  the  opera- 
tion of  fitting  been  found,  that  some  of  its  most  distin- 
guished advocates  have  seemed  much  disposed  to  think 
the  fault  is  in  the  facts  themselves.* 

It  will  be  perceived  that  the  whole  system  is  based 
upon  the  assertion  of  the  existence  of  a  single  fact,  viz., 
that  in  the  commencement  of  cultivation,  when  popula- 
tion is  small,  and  land  consequently  abundant,  the  soils 
capable  of  yielding  the  largest  return  to  any  given  quan- 
tity of  labour  alone  are  cultivated.  That  fact  exists,  or 
it  does  not.  If  it  has  no  existence,  the  system  falls 
to  the  ground.  That  it  does  not  exist ;  that  it  never  has 
existed  in  any  country  whatsoever ;  and  that  it  is  con- 
trary to  the  nature  of  things  that  it  should  have  existed, 
or  can  exist,  we  propose  now  to  show. 
\ 

*  "The  one  [the  practical  man]  draws  his  notion  of  the  universe  from 
the  few  objects  which  compose  the  furniture  of  his  counting-house;  the 
other  [the  philosopher]  having  got  demonstration  on  his  side,  and  forget- 
ting that  it  is  only  a  demonstration  nisi — a  proof  at  all  times  liable  to  be 
set  aside  by  the  addition  of  a  single  new  fact  to  the  hypothesis — denies 
instead  of  examining  and  sifting  the  allegations  which  are  opposed  to 
him."—/.  S.  Mill. 


24  MAX    AND    LAND. 

The  picture  presented  by  the  theory  differs  materially 
from  that  which  we  have  offered  to  the  consideration  of  the 
reader.  Mr.  Ricardo  places  his  settler  on  the  best  lands, 
and  the  children  of  that  settler  on  those  which  are  inferior. 
He  makes  man  the  victim  of  a  sad  necessity,  increasing 
with  his  numbers,  whereas,  we  have  shown  him  exer- 
cising constantly  increasing  power,  derived  from  com- 
bined exertion  by  those  numbers.  He  had  never  wit- 
nessed, as  at  this  moment  we  do  from  the  window  at 
which  we  write,  the  progress  of  a  new  settlement.  Had 
he  done  so,  we  doubt  not  his  strong  mind  would  have 
enabled  him  to  study  out  the  true  cause  of  rent,  and  the 
law  of  its  progress  and  decline.  We  propose  now  to 
show  that  in  every  part  of  the  world,  and  in  every  age, 
the  order  of  events  has  been  such  as  we  have  stated  it 
to  be,  and  if  this  can  be  done  to  the  satisfaction  of  our 
readers,  it  will  be  obvious  that  the  theory  of  Mr.  Ricar- 
do has  no  foundation.  It  rests  on  the  assumption  of  a 
single  and  simple  fact,  and  if  that  fact  can  be  shown  to 
have  no  existence,  the  system  must  be  abandoned,  and 
we  must  seek  elsewhere  for  the  cause  of  rent :  and  it  may 
prove  that  we  shall  find  the  law  of  its  progress  to  be  di- 
rectly the  reverse  of  what  it  is,  by  many,  supposed  to  be. 
We  shall  commence  our  examination  with  the  United 
States.  Their  first  settlement  is  recent,  and  the  work 
being  still  in  progress,  we  can  readily  trace  the  settler, 
and  mark  his  course  of  operation.  If  we  find  him  inva- 
riably occupying  the  high  and  thin  lands  requring  little 
clearing  and  no  drainage :  those  which  can  yield  but  a 
small  return  to  labour  :  and  as  invariably  travelling  down 
the  hills  and  clearing  and  draining  the  lower  and  richer 
lands,  as  population  and  wealth  increase  :  then  will  the 
theory  we  have  offered  be  confirmed  by  practice :  Ame- 
rican practice  at  least.  If,  however,  we  can  thence  fol- 
low him  into  Mexico,  and  through  South  America ;  into 


MAN    AND    LAND.  25 

Britain,  and  through  France,  Germany,  Italy,  Greece 
and  Egypt,  into  Asia  and  Australia,  and  show  that  such 
has  been  his  invariable  course  of  action,  then  may  it  be 
believed  that  when  population  is  small,  and  land  conse- 
quently abundant,  the  work  of  cultivation  is,  and  always 
must  be,  commenced  upon  the  poorer  soils:  that  with 
the  growth  of  population  and  wealth,  other  soils,  yield- 
ing a  larger  return  to  labour,  are  always  brought  into  ac- 
tivity, with  a  constantly  increasing  return  to  the  labour 
expended  upon  them :  and  that  with  this  change  there 
is  a  steady  diminution  in  the  proportion  of  the  population 
required  for  producing  the  means  of  subsistence,  and  as 
steady  an  increase  in  the  proportion  that  may  apply  them- 
selves to  producing  the  other  comforts,  conveniences 
and  luxuries  of  life. 

The  first  settlers  of  the  English  race  are  found  esta- 
blishing themselves  on  the  barren  soil  of  Massachusetts,  and 
founding  the  colony  of  Plymouth.  The  whole  continent 
was  before  them,  but,  like  all  other  colonists,  they  had 
to  take  what,  with  their  means,  they  could  obtain.  Other 
settlements  are  formed  at  Newport  and  New  Haven,  and 
thence  they  may  be  traced,  following  the  courses  of  the 
rivers  but  occupying  in  all  cases  the  higher  lands,  leav- 
ing the  clearing  of  timber  and  the  draining  of  swamps 
to  their  more  wealthy  successors.  Were  the  reader  de- 
sired to  designate  the  soils  of  the  Union  least  calculated 
for  the  production  of  food,  his  choice  would,  we  think, 
fall  upon  the  rocky  lands  first  occupied  by  the  hardy  Pu- 
ritans, and  thus  we  find  that  here  at  least  the  most  fertile 
lands  are  not  first  taken  into  cultivation.  If  we  look  to 
New  York  the  process  is  the  same.  The  unproductive 
soil  of  the  island  of  New  York,  and  the  opposite  shore  of 
New  Jersey,  and  the  higher  lands  on  Long  Island,  claimed 
.early  attention,  while  the  more  productive  soils  came  later 
into  cultivation.  Here.  **£am,  we  find  population  spread- 
D  "  3 


26  MAN    AND    LAND. 

ing  and  following  the  course  of  the  Hudson  towards  the 
Mohawk,  but  in  all  cases  it  will  be  found  keeping 
the  higher  and  drier  lands,  away  from  the  river  bank. 
The  settlers  desire  food,  and  if  they  undertake  to  cleai 
the  forests  and  drain  the  meadows,  they  must  starve.  In 
New  Jersey  we  find  them  occupying  the  higher  lands  to- 
wards the  heads  of  the  rivers,  while  neglecting  the  lower 
grounds  that  require  drainage.*  That  state  still  abounds 
in  fine  timber  that  covers  rich  lands,  which  need  only  to 
be  cleared  to  yield  larger  returns  to  labour  than  any  of 
those  cultivated  a  hundred  years  since,  when  land  was  far 
more  abundant  than  now.  On  the  shores  of  the  Dela- 
ware, we  find  the  Quakers  selecting  the  light  lands  that 
produce  the  pine:  and  that,  even  now,  with  the  aid  of 
manure,  will  scarcely  produce  wheat :  while  forests  of 
oak  still  cover  the  opposite  shore  of  Pennsylvania. 
Every  settler  selects,  too,  the  higher  and  drier  parts 
of  his  farm,  leaving  the  meadows,  many  of  which  have 
remained  until  now  in  a  state  of  nature,  while  others 
have  been  drained  within  the  last  five  years.  The  best 
portions  of  every  farm  are,  invariably,  those  which  have 
been  most  recently  brought  into  cultivation,  while  the 
poorest  lands  of  the  various  neighbourhoods  are  always 
those  on  which  are  seen  the  oldest  farm-houses.  If  we 
pass  further  through  the  sandy  lands  of  New  Jersey,  we 
shall  find  hundreds  of  little  clearings  more  than  half  a 
century  old,  long  since  abandoned  by  their  owners,  who 
have  left  behind  their  little  orchards  and  other  evidences 
of  their  existence,  to  attest  the  character  of  the  soil  that 
men  cultivate  when  population  is  small,  and  fertile  land 
most  abundant.  Having  cleared  the  lands  that  produce 
the  oak,  or  drained  those  which  yield  the  white-cedar, 


*  The  reader  may  see  this  by  reference  to  the  map  of  East  Jersey  in 
1682,  recently  republished. 


MAN    AND    LAND.  27 

they  abandon  those  which  produce  the  pine  of  that  state, 
the  poorest  of  all  pines.  The  Swedes  settle  Lewistown 
and  Christiana,  on  the  sandy  soil  of  Delaware.  Crossing 
that  state  towards  the  head  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  we  find  in 
the  little  and  decaying  towns  of  Elkton  and  Charlestown, 
once  the  centres  of  a  somewhat  active  population,  further 
evidence  of  the  poverty  of  the  soils  first  occupied,  when  fine 
meadow-land,  on  which  are  now  the  richest  farms  in  that 
state,  was  abundant,  but  held  as  worthless.  Penn  follows  the 
Swedes,  and  profits  by  their  expenditure  and  experience. 
He  first  selects  the  high  lands  on  the  Delaware,  about 
twelve  miles  north  of  the  site  which  he  afterwards  chooses 
for  his  city,  near  the  confluence  of  the  Delaware  and  Schuyl- 
kill.  Starting  from  this  latter  point,  and  tracing  the  course 
of  settlement,  we  find  it  not  at  first  extending  downwards 
towards  the  rich  meadow-lands,  but  upwards  along  the 
ridge  between  the  two  rivers,  where  the  village  of  German- 
town,  which  half  a  century  since  exceeded  three  miles  in 
length,  and  was  for  a  village  very  closely  built,  remains  to  mark 
the  tendencies  of  early  colonists.  If,  now,  we  pass,  right  or 
left,  to  the  river  banks,  we  shall  see,  in  the  character  of  the 
buildings,  evidences  of  later  occupation  and  cultivation. 
If  further  evidence  be  desired,  and  we  look  to  the  maps 
of  that  early  day,  we  find  the  fertile  lands  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Delaware,  from  New  Castle  almost  to  the  head  of  tide- 
water, a  distance  of  more  than  sixty  miles,  marked  as  held 
in  large  tracts,  and  dotted  over  with  trees,  to  show  that  they 
are  still  uncleared,  while  all  the  upper  lands  are  divided  into 
small  farms.*  Passing  northward  and  westward,  and  keep- 
ing near  the  Schuylkill,  we  see  the  oldest  habitations  always 
most  distant  from  the  river ;  but  later  times,  and  increase  of 
population  and  wealth,  have  carried  cultivation  to  the  water's 
edge.  With  every  additional  mile,  we  find  stronger  evi- 
dence of  the  recent  cultivation  of  the  best  soils.  The  original 

*  See  Holmes's  Map,  published  in  1681,  and  recently  republished. 


28 


MAN    AND    LAND. 


timber  still  stands  on  beautiful  meadow-land.  The  trees  ana 
shrubs  in  and  near  the  fence  rows  on  the  lower  lands  become 
more  abundant.  The  valleys  in  the  rolls  of  the  hills,  a  little  dis- 
tant from  the  river,  become  studded  with  trees.  The  lowest 
ground  in  the  meadow-field,  from  time  immemorial  a  ditch 
in  which  leaves  have  rotted,  remains  in  a  state  of  nature, 
from  want  of  drainage.  The  banks  of  the  little  tributaries 
of  the  river  become  more  and  more  wild.  Long  strips  of 
meadow  land  are  met  waiting  for  embankment.  Cows  are 
seen  pasturing  in  fields  the  character  of  whose  vegetation 
shows  that  the  operations  of  the  owner  have  been  limited  to 
clearing  and  enclosing  them,  and  that  a  proper  system  of 
drainage  is,  as  yet,  unthought  of.  Little  islands  appear,  ca- 
pable of  yielding  a  large  return  to  labour,  but  as  yet  co- 
vered with  weeds  and  shrubs.  Everywhere  around  we  see 
the  higher  lands  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  and  affording 
proof  of  the  length  of  time  that  has  elapsed  since  they 
were  cleared.  Arriving  in  the  vicinity  of  Reading,  we  see 
in  lands  abandoned,  evidence  of  the  want  of  fertility  in 
the  soils  first  cultivated,  and  other  evidence  of  the  supe- 
riority of  the  new  soils  now  coming  into  activity,  in  the 
fine  fields  that  have  been  restored  by  combining  the  inferior 
lime  with  the  superior  clay.  In  our  further  progress  up  the 
river  we  meet,  at  every  step,  farms  on  the  hillsides,  while 
the  lower  lands  become  more  and  more  wild  and  rough. 
Patches  of  wood  standing  thereon  are  now  of  frequent  oc- 
currence, while  the  stumps  in  others  attest  the  recent  date  of 
their  subjugation  to  the  plough :  and  finer  crops  standing 
among  the  stumps  equally  attest  the  superiority  of  this  soil 
to  that  of  the  long-cleared  dry  land  of  the  hills,  first  culti- 
vated. The  rough  and  undrained  land  nearest  the  river 
will,  with  increased  population  and  wealth,  furnish  fine  mea- 
dows, but  in  its  present  state  is  of  small  value.  Further 
on,  cultivation  almost  leaves  the  river  bank,  and  if  we 
would  seek  it  we  must  pass  outward,  where,  at  the  distance 
of  half  a  mile  or  more,  we  may  find  farms  half  a  cen- 


MAN    AND    LAND.  29 

tury  old.  If  we  travel  up  the  little  stream  that  leads  to 
Orvvigsburg,  the  seat  of  justice  for  Schuylkill  county,  we 
shall  find  a  beautiful  valley  with  the  hill-sides  cleared  to  the 
top,  while  below,  the  rivulet  meanders  through  patches  of 
wood-land,  and  the  flat  is  interspersed  with  remnants  of 
the  timber  that  originally  covered  the  whole  :  the  inter- 
mediate spaces  being  frequently  occupied  by  fields  the 
date  of  whose  clearing  may  readily  be  determined  by  the 
greater  or  less  decay  of  the  stumps  with  which  they  are 
in  part  covered.  If  now  we  follow  the  old  road,  wind- 
ing about,  apparently  in  search  of  hills  to  cross,  and  in 
quire  the  cause  of  thus  lengthening  the  distance,  we  find 
that  it  was  made  to  suit  the  early  settlers :  but  if  we  fol- 
low the  new  roads,  we  find  them  keeping  near  the  stream, 
on  the  low  and  rich  lands  last  cultivated.  Returning  to  the 
river  and  passing  on  our  course,  the  trees  become  more  and 
more  numerous,  and  the  meadow-land  less  and  less  drained 
or  occupied  ;  and  at  length,  as  we  pass  up  the  little  branches 
of  the  river,  cultivation  disappears,  and  the  original  woods 
remain  untouched,  except  so  far  as  the  wants  of  the  recently 
established  coal  trade  have  tended  to  their  extermination. 
If  we  desire  to  see  the  land  chosen  by  the  early  settlers,  we 
have  but  to  ascend  the  hill-side,  and  on  the  flat  above  will 
be  found  houses  and  farms,  some  of  them  half  a  century  old, 
many  of  which  are  now  abandoned.  If,  passing  northward 
from  the  river,  we  trace  its  little  tributary,  Mill  Creek,  to  its 
source,  we  see  miles  of  fine  meadow-land,  still  covered  with 
the  original  timber,  with  but  here  and  there  a  patch  of 
cleared  land  :  while  on  the  hill-sides  may  be  seen  occasional 
little  farms,  the  houses  on  which  bear  every  mark  of  considera- 
ble age.  Arriving  at  the  little  town  of  St.  Clair,  the  site  of 
which  three  years  since  was  covered  with  timber  growing 
on  land  fitted  to  make  the  finest  meadows,  but  much  of  it 
then  a  mere  marsh,  we  see,  far  up  the  hill,  the  residence  of  the 
first  owner  of  this  large  body  of  fertile  land,  and  may  judge 
for  ourselves  the  original  character  of  the  soil  selected  fo» 


30  MAN    AND    LAND. 

cultivation  from  the  small  pines  and  hemlocks  on  that  imme- 
diately adjacent ;  and  yet  the  style  of  the  house  proves  him 
to  have  been  of  the  better  class  of  the  settlers  of  half  a  cen- 
tury past,  when  population  was  thin,  and  good  land  abundant, 
but  wealth  scarce.  Crossing  Broad  and  Locust  mountains, 
we  see  near  their  tops  the  habitations  of  early  settlers,  who 
selected  the  land  of  the  pine,  easily  cleared,  and  whose 
pine-knots  afforded  at  one  time  tar,  and  at  another,  substi- 
tutes for  candles  that  they  were  too  poor  to  buy.  Immedi- 
ately afterwards  we  find  ourselves  in  the  valley  of  the  Sus- 
quehanna,  on  meadow-lands  whose  character  is  proved  by 
the  great  size  of  the  timber  by  which  they  are  covered :  but 
upon  which  neither  the  spade  nor  the  plough  has  yet  made 
its  mark.  Passing  onward,  we  meet  a  row  of  small  farms 
occupying  a  ridge  between  the  mountains,  while  below  them, 
distant  two  or  three  hundred  yards,  the  little  stream  runs 
through  fine  white-oak  timber  lands,  upon  which  the  axe 
has  scarcely  yet  been  heard.  Good  land  thus  abounds,  but 
the  settler  prefers  that  which  will  yield  the  largest  return  to 
labour,  which  the  richer  lands  would  not,  as  the  cost  of  clear- 
ing them  would  be  more  than  they  were  worth  when  cleared. 
Descending  the  little  stream,  we  reach  the  Susquehanna,  and 
with  every  step  of  our  progress,  we  find  cultivation  descend- 
ing the  hills.  The  valleys  become  more  cleared  of  timber, 
and  meadows  and  cattle  appear,  the  most  certain  signs  of 
increasing  population  and  wealth. 

Passing  up  the  west  branch  of  the  Susquehanna,  the  order 
is  again  inverted.  Population  diminishes,  and  cultivation 
tends  to  leave  the  river  bottom,  and  to  ascend  the  hill-sides. 
Arriving  in  the  vicinity  of  Muncy,  if,  leaving  the  river  and 
ascending  the  bank,  we  pass  to  the  foot  of  the  Muncy  hills, 
our  road  will  cross  fine  limestone  land  whose  food-produc- 
ing qualities  being  less  obvious  to  the  early  settlers,  whole 
tracts  of  it,  containing  hundreds  of  acres,  passed  from  hand 
to  hand  in  exchange  for  a  dollar,  or  even  a  jug  of  whiskey. 
They  preferred  the  oak-producing  soils,  whose  trees  they  could 


MAN    AND    LAND.  31 

girdle,  and  afterwards  destroy  by  fire.  With  increasing  po- 
pulation and  wealth,  we  find  them  returning  to  the  lands  at 
first  despised,  combining  the  inferior  and  superior  soils,  and 
obtaining  greatly  increased  returns  to  labour.  If  now  we 
tould  take  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  country,  we  might  trace 
with  perfect  accuracy  the  course  of  every  little  stream,  by 
the  timber  still  standing  on  its  banks,  conspicuous  among 
the  higher  and  cleared  lands  of  the  neighbourhood.  Passing 
again  up  the  river,  we  find  the  timber  in  the  low  lands  increas- 
ing in  quantity,  and  if  we  desire  to  see  cultivation  we  must  seek 
it  at  the  head- waters  of  the  Bald  Eagle,  in  the  county  of  Centre : 
or  we  may  pass  up  the  Sinnemahoning,  amid  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  timber,  much  of  which  would  yield,  as 
we  are  assured,  a  hundred  thousand  feet  of  lumber  to  the 
acre,  which  yet  have  felt  no  implement  but  the  axe  of  the 
lumberman.  So  nearly  valueless  are  the  fertile  soils  which 
produce  these  fine  trees,  that  we  have  just  now  heard  of  the 
sale  of  two  thousand  acres,  estimated  to  average  thirty  thou- 
sand feet  to  the  acre :  the  whole  for  the  sum  of  $1250 — or 
.£260.  Attaining  the  head  of  the  stream,  we  find  ourselves 
again  in  the  midst  of  cultivation,  and  see  that  the  settlers 
here,  as  everywhere  else,  have  selected  the  high  and  dry 
lands  upon  which  they  might  commence  with  the  plough,  in 
preference  to  the  more  fertile  soils  that  required  the  axe.  If, 
instead  6f  turning  southward  towards  Clearfield,  we  advance 
northward  to  the  newly  settled  counties  of  Potter,  McKean 
and  Tioga,  we  find  the  centre  of  population  of  each  occu- 
pying the  highest  lands,  near  the  head  of  the  several  little 
streams  which  there  take  their  rise.  If,  passing  westward, 
we  cross  the  ridge  of  the  Alleghany  to  the  head-waters  of 
the  Ohio,  we  find  again  the  order  of  things  inverted.  Popu- 
lation at  first  is  scattered,  and  occupies  the  higher  lands,  and 
the  best  timber  is  still  standing:  but  as  we  descend  the  river, 
population  and  wealth  gradually  increase,  the  lower  lands 
become  more  and  more  cleared,  and  at  length  we  find  our- 
selves ai  Pittsburgh,,  in  the  midst  of  a  dense  population, 


32  MAN    AND    LAND. 

actively  employed  in  bringing  into  connection  the  several 
soils  containing  carbon,  lime,  and  iron,  with  a  view  to  the 
preparation  of  machinery  to  enable  the  farmer  of  the  west 
to  sink  deeply  into  the  land  of  which  heretofore  he  has  but 
scratched  the  superficial  soil,  and  to  clear  and  drain  the  fer- 
tile soils  of  the  river  bottoms,  instead  of  the  higher  and 
drier  lands  from  which  he  has  heretofore  derived  his  sup- 
plies of  food. 

The  early  settlers  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  uniformly 
selected  the  higher  grounds,  leaving  the  richer  lands  for  their 
successors.  The  immediate  valleys  of  streams,  fertile  a? 
were  the  soils,  were  and  still  are  avoided  on  account  of  dan- 
ger to  be  apprehended  from  the  fevers  which  even  now  sweep 
off  so  many  of  the  emigrants  to  the  new  states.  The  faci- 
lity of  getting  some  small  crop  always  prompted,  as  it  still 
prompts,  to  the  selection  of  the  land  which  was  most  readily 
brought  into  cultivation:  and  none  so  well  answered  the  pur- 
pose as  that  which  was  slightly  clothed  with  timber,  and 
clear  of  undergrowth.  The  constant  fall  of  leaves  had  by 
their  decay  kept  the  ground  covered  with  a  light  mould,  and 
prevented  the  growth  of  grass :  and  by  deadening  the  trees 
to  let  in  the  sun,  they  could  obtain  a  small  return  to  labour. 
The  first  great  object  was  to  have  a  dry  place  for  the  dwell- 
ing. Land  which  is  entirely  covered  with  timber  has  very 
imperfect  drainage,  and  therefore  the  settler  was  found  always 
selecting  dry  ridges  of  land  on  which  to  begin  the  work  of 
cultivation ;  for  the  same  reason  which  prevented  him  from 
commencing  the  work  of  artificial  drainage  to  secure  a  place 
for  his  dwelling  equally  prevented  him  from  so  doing  for  any 
other  purpose. 

In  the  prairies,  the  richest  land  is  found  in  the  centre 
of  the  prairie,  and  there  can  water  be  most  readily  ob- 
tained ;  while  on  the  outer  edges,  as  the  surface  descends 
towards  the  timbered  land,  it  is  less  healthful,  and  water 
is  obtained  only  by  boring  to  a  considerable  depth,  while 
the  soil  is  far  less  rich  :  yet  here  inv?  riably  does  the  settler 


MAN    AND    LAND.  3S 

commence,  as  the  centre  requires  drainage,  and  three  or  four 
yoke  of  oxen  to  break  up  the  tough  sod.  With  each  step  in 
the  progress  of  wealth  and  population,  the  new  settlers  are 
seen  approaching  nearer  to  the  centre  and  obtaining  better 
soils  at  less  cost  of  labour.  While  thus  passing  inward  to- 
wards richer  portions  of  the  prairie,  others  gradually  make 
their  way  down  to  the  lower  lands  near  the  margins  of  the 
streams,  but  for  want  of  drainage  these  are  frequently  over- 
flowed, and  then  the  labour  is  in  a  great  measure  lost. 

Descending  the  river  from  Pittsburgh,  we  reach  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  where  we  lose  sight  of 
all  signs  of  population,  except  that  of  the  poor  wood-cutter, 
who  risks  his  health  while  engaged  in  providing  wood  for 
the  numerous  steamboats.     Here,  for  hundreds  of  miles,  wf 
pass  through  the  most  fertile  land,  covered  with  timber  of 
gigantic  size.     With  all  its  powers  of  production,  it  is  value- 
less for  all  purposes  of  cultivation.     Unembanked,  it  is  lia- 
ble to  occasional  overflow  from  the  river,  and  its  neighbour- 
hood is  destructive  to  life  and  health:  for  which  reason  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  acres  that,  when  population  and  wealth 
shall  have  further  increased,  will  yield  the  largest  return  to 
labour,  remain  uncleared  and  undrained  :  while  the  higher 
lands,  whose  "  original  and  indestructible  powers"  are  less, 
are  in  a  state  of  cultivation.     Descending  further,  we  meet 
population  and  wealth  in  the  act  of  ascending  the  Missis- 
sippi, from  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.     Embank- 
ments, or  levees,  keep  out  the  river,  and  the  finest  planta- 
tions are  seen  on  land  corresponding  in  every  respect  with 
the  wild  and  uncultivated  region  through  which  we  have  just 
passed.     If,  now,  we  desire  to  seek  the  habitations  of  the  early 
settlers,  we  must  leave  the  river  bank  and  ascend  the  hills, 
and  with  every  step  we  shall  find  new  proof  that  cultivation 
invariably  commences  on  the  poorer  soils.     If  we  interrogate 
the  pioneer  settlers  why  they  waste  their  labour  on  the  poor 
soil  of  the  hill-tops,  while  fertile  soils  abound,  their  answer 
will  invariably  be  found  to  be,  that  the  one  they  can  cultivate 
E 


34  MAN    AND    LAND. 

as  it  stands,  while  the  other  they  cannot.  The  pine  of  the 
hills  is  small,  and  easily  cleared.  It  gives  them  good  fuel, 
and  its  knots  furnish  artificial  light.  To  attempt  to  clear  the 
land  that  bears  the  oak  would  ruin  them.  If,  instead  of  de- 
scending the  Mississippi,  we  ascend  the  Missouri,  the  Ken- 
tucky, the  Tennessee,  or  the  Red  River,  we  find  invariably 
that  the  more  dense  the  population  and  the  greater  the  mass 
of  wealth,  the  more  are  the  good  soils  cultivated :  and  that 
as  population  diminishes  with  our  approach  to  their  head- 
waters, and  as  land  becomes  more  abundant,  cultivation  re- 
cedes from  the  river  banks,  the  timber  and  the  undrained 
meadow-lands  increase  in  quantity,  and  the  scattered  inha- 
bitants are  seen  obtaining  from  the  superficial  soils  a  dimi- 
nishing return  to  their  labour,  accompanied  with  diminish- 
ing power  to  command  the  necessaries,  conveniences,  and 
comforts  of  life.  If  we  cross  the  Mississippi  into  Texas,  and 
mark  the  site  of  the  town  of  Austin,  the  centre  of  the  first 
American  settlement,  we  find  it  to  have  been  placed  high 
up  on  the  Colorado,  while  millions  of  acres  of  the  finest  tim- 
ber and  meadow  lands  in  the  world,  totally  unoccupied, 
were  passed  over,  as  incapable  of  paying  the  cost  of  simple 
appropriation.  If  we  look  to  the  Spanish  colony  of  Bexar, 
we  find  further  illustration  of  the  same  universal  fact.  The 
whole  tendency  of  colonization  is  to\vards  the  head-waters  of 
the  rivers. 

We  know  of  no  exception  to  the  rule,  and  we  feel  assured 
that  none  exists,  or  can  exist.  That  it  should  do  so,  would 
be  contrary  to  the  laws  of  nature.  The  same  reason  that 
prompts  the  settler  to  build  himself  a  log-house,  to  provide 
shelter  while  waiting  until  he  can  have  one  of  stone,  equally 
prompts  him  to  begin  cultivation  where  he  can  use  his  plough, 
and  not  to  risk  the  starvation  of  his  family  by  endeavouring 
to  do  so  where  he  cannot:  and  where  fevers,  perhaps  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  death,  would  be  the  inevitable  result  of  the  attempt. 
In  every  case  on  record,  in  which  settlements  have  been  at 
tempted  on  rich  lands,  they  have  either  failed  totally,  or 


MAN    AND    LAND.  35 

their  progress  has  been  slow,  and  it  has  been  only  after  re- 
peated efforts  that  they  have  thriven.  The  reader  who  de- 
sires evidence  of  this  fact,  and  of  the  absolute  necessity  for 
commencing  with  the  poorer  soils,  will  obtain  it  if  he 
study  the  history  of  the  French  colonies  in  Louisiana  and 
Cayenne,  and  compare  their  repeated  failures  with  the  steady 
growth  of  those  formed  in  the  region  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
where  numerous  and  somewhat  prosperous  settlements  were 
formed  at  places  where  the  land  is  now  held  to  be  almost  utterly 
valueless,  because  better  soils  can  be  obtained  elsewhere,  by 
sinking  deeper  into  the  earth,  or  removing  to  a  little  distance. 
He  may  obtain  additional  evidence,  if  he  will  compare  the 
gentle,  but  steady,  growth  of  the  colonies  planted  on  the 
sterile  soils  of  New  England,  with  the  repeated  failures  of 
colonization  upon  the  richer  lands  of  Virginia  and  Carolina, 
which  latter  could  not  be  reduced  to  cultivation  by  men 
working  for  themselves  ;  and  hence  we  find  the  richer  colonists 
purchasing  negroes,  and  compelling  them  to  perform  the 
work,  while  the  free  labourer  seeks  the  light  sandy  lands  of 
North  Carolina.  Slavery  would  never  have  existed  there 
could  free  labourers  have  been  obtained,  but  no  man,  left  to 
himself,  will  commence  the  work  of  cultivation  on  the  rich 
soils :  because  it  is  from  those  soils  that  the  return  is  then 
least,  and  it  is  upon  them,  throughout  all  the  new  countries 
of  the  world,  that  the  condition  of  the  labourer  is  the  worst, 
where  the  work  is  undertaken  in  advance  of  the  wealth  and 
combination  that  come,  or  ought  to  come,  with  time.  The 
settler  who  sought  the  high  light  lands  obtained  food,  although 
the  return  to  his  labour  was  small.  Had  he  undertaken  to 
drain  the  rich  soils  of  the  Dismal  Swamp,  he  would  have 
starved,  as  did  those  who  settled  the  fertile  island  of  Roanoke. 
If  the  reader  will  now  cross  with  us  the  Rio  Grande,  into 
Mexico,  he  may  find  further  illustration  of  the  universality 
of  this  law.  At  his  left,  near  the  mouth  of  the  river,  but  at 
some  distance  from  its  bank,  he  will  see  the  city  of  Mata- 
moras,  of  recent  date.  Starting  from  that  point,  he  may  fol- 


36  MAN    AND    LAND. 

low  the  river  through  vast  bodies  of  fine  lands  in  a  state  of 
nature,  with  here  and  there  a  scattered  settlement  occupying 
the  higher  ones,  to  the  mouth  of  the  San  Juan,  follow- 
ing which  to  its  source,  he  will  find  himself  in  a  somewhat 
populous  country,  of  which  Monterey  is  the  centre.  If, 
standing  here,  he  cast  his  eyes  to  the  north,  he  sees  cultiva- 
tion advancing  among  the  high  lands  of  Chihuahua,  and 
keeping,  invariably,  away  from  the  river  banks.  The  city 
of  that  name  is  distant  twenty  miles  even  from  the  little  tribu- 
tary of  the  great  river,  and  more  than  a  hundred  miles  from 
the  mouth  of  that  tributary.  If  he  pass  west  from  Monte- 
rey, through  Saltillo  and  thence  south,  his  road  will  lie  over 
sandy  plains  whose  existence  is  evidence  of  the  general  cha- 
racter of  the  region.  Arriving  in  Potosi,  he  finds  himself  in 
a  country  without  rivers,  and  almost  without  the  possibility 
of  irrigation,  and  where  any  failure  of  the  periodical  rains  is 
followed  by  famine  and  death,  yet  if  he  cast  his  eyes  down- 
wards towards  the  coast,  he  sees  a  magnificent  country, 
watered  by  numerous  rivers,  and  in  which  the  cotton  and  the 
indigo  plant  grow  spontaneously  :  a  country  in  which  the 
maize  grows  with  a  luxuriance  elsewhere  unknown  :  one  that 
might  supply  the  world  with  sugar,  and  in  which  the  only 
danger  to  be  apprehended  from  the  character  of  the  soil  is, 
that  the  crops  might  be  smothered  by  reason  of  the  rapid 
growth  of  plants  that  spring  up  in  the  rich  earth,  without 
aid,  or  even  permission  from  the  man  who  might  undertake 
to  cultivate  it :  yet  there  he  sees  no  population.  The  land 
is  uncleared  and  undrained,  and  likely  so  to  remain,  because 
those  who  should  undertake  to  work,  with  the  present  means 
of  the  country,  would  starve,  if  they  did  not  perish  by  the 
fevers  that  there,  as  everywhere,  prevail  among  the  richest 
soils  until  subjected  to  cultivation:  and  often  long  afterwards. 
Passing  on,  he  sees  Zacatecas,  high  and  dry  like  Potosi,  yet 
cultivated.  Keeping  the  ridge,  he  sees  on  his  left  Tlascala, 
once  the  seat  of  a  great  and  wealthy  people,  far  removed 
from  any  stream  whatsoever,  and  occupying  the  high  land 


MAN    AND    LAND.  37 

from  which  descend  little  streams  seeking  the  waters  of  both 
the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific.  On  his  right  he  sees  the  valley 
of  Mexico,  a  land  capable  of  yielding  the  largest  returns  to 
labour,  that  by  slow  degrees,  with  the  growth  of  population 
and  wealth,  was  once  drained  and  rendered  fit  for  cultiva- 
tion. In  the  time  of  Cortes,  the  people  were  numerous  and 
rich,  and  the  fertile  soils  they  had  brought  into  activity 
produced  food  in  abundance  for  forty  cities.  Population  and 
wealth  have  declined,  and  the  remaining  people  have  retired 
to  the  high  lands  bordering  the  valley,  to  cultivate  the  poorer 
soils  ;  and  the  single  city  that  still  remains  draws  its  supplies 
of  food  from  a  distance  of  fifty  miles,  in  a  country  where 
roads  scarcely  exist,  the  consequence  of  which  is  that  corn 
is  higher  in  price  than  in  London  or  Paris  while  wages  are 
very  low.  Fertile  land  is  here  superabundant,  over  which 
roam  half-starved  cattle,  seeking  to  obtain  from  the  top  soil : 
the  only  one  used  in  this  second  childhood  of  agriculture : 
that  nourishment  which  would  be  afforded  in  endless  abund- 
ance, did  the  people  possess  the  means  and  the  indus- 
try to  penetrate  to  those  lower  soils  which  were  cultivated 
when  population  abounded.  Not  an  acre  in  the  hundred  is 
cultivated  at  all,  yet  even  with  their  imperfect  machinery 
each  one  would  yield  twenty  bushels.  The  people  fly  from  it, 
whereas,  according  to  Mr.  Ricardo,  it  is  that  which  would 
be  first  appropriated. 

Passing  southward,  we  see  Tabasco  almost  unoccupied,  " 
yet  possessing  highly  fertile  lands.  Next  we  reach  Yuca- 
tan, a  land  in  which  water  is  a  luxury:  yet  here  we  meet 
a  large  and  prosperous  population,  near  neighbours  to  the 
better  soils  of  Honduras  that  are  covered  with  trees  of  the 
most  enormous  size,  and  that,  when  population  and  wealth 
shall  have  sufficiently  increased,  will  yield  returns  to  la- 
bour as  large,  if  not  larger,  than  any  hitherto  known :  yet 
now  they  are  a  wilderness,  affording  subsistence  but  to  a 
few  miserable  logwood  and  mahogany  cutters. 

If,  now,  the  reader  look  northward,  towards  the  Carib- 

4 


38  MAN -AND    LAND. 

bean  sea,  he  will  see  the  little  dry  and  rocky  islands  of 
Montserrat,  Nevis,  St.  Kitts,  St.  Lucia,  St.  Vincent,  and 
others,  cultivated  throughout,  while  at  his  right  stands  Tri- 
nidad, with  the  richest  of  soils,  remaining  almost  in  a  state  of 
nature.  If  he  will  cast  his  eyes  on  the  map  and  mark 
the  position  of  Santa  Fe  de  Bogota,  and  the  city  of  Quito, 
the  centres  of  population,  where  men  cluster  together  on 
the  high  and  dry  lands  while  the  valley  of  Oroonoko  remains 
unoccupied,  he  will  see  exhibited  on  a  great  scale  the 
same  fact  which,  on  a  small  one,  we  have  shown  to  exist  on 
the  banks  of  the  Schuylkill  and  the  Susquehanna.  If,  next, 
he  will  take  his  station  on  the  peaks  of  Chimborazo  and 
look  around,  he  will  see  the  same  great  fact  in  relation  to  all 
southern  America.  He  will  see  the  only  civilized  people 
of  the  days  of  Pizarro  occupying  high  and  dry  Peru,  drained 
by  little  streams  whose  rapid  course  forbids  the  possibility 
that  marshes  should  be  formed  in  which  vegetable  matter 
may  decay,  to  give  richness  to  the  soil  for  the  produc- 
tion of  timber  before  the  period  of  cultivation,  or  of  food 
afterwards.  It  was  poor  and  easily  cleared.  It  wanted  no 
artificial  drainage.  It  was  therefore  occupied. 

If,  now,  he  turn  his  face  to  the  east,  he  will  see  before 
him  the  rich  valley  of  the  Amazon,  affording  soils  inferior 
to  none  on  earth,  yet  to  this  day  a  wilderness.  Let  him 
next  trace  the  numerous  tributaries  of  that  great  river  to 
their  sources,  and  he  will  there  meet  the  various  Portuguese 
towns  and  cities,  occupying  the  high  lands,  and  waiting  the 
further  growth  of  population  and  wealth  for  the  clearing  and 
draining  of  the  rich  soil  lying  between  them  and  the  ocean : 
soils  whose  crops,  transported  on  steamboats,  will  at  some 
future  day  yield  to  the  labour  employed  a  return  ten  times 
greater  than  can  now  be  obtained  by  cultivating  the  poor 
ones,  and  transporting  the  produce  across  hills  and  moun- 
tains on  the  backs  of  mules.  The  laws  of  nature  require 
that  if  man  would  improve  his  condition  he  must  work, 
and  he  must  let  others  work  in  peace.  He  must  let  wealth 


MAN    AND    LAND.  39 

and  population  grow,  and  if  he  will  not  do  this  :  if  he  will 
commit  wholesale  robbery  and  murder  under  the  pretence 
of  making  wars  for  "the  public  good,"  or  the  hollow  one 
of  maintaining  "the  liberties  of  Europe  :"  she  punishes  him 
by  shutting  him  out  from  those  lands  that  would  yield  the 
largest  return  to  his  labour,  and  compelling  him  to  travel  on 
foot  across  barren  mountains,  when  he  might  have  a  railroad 
car  that  would  transport  him  rapidly  through  fertile  valleys, 
where  at  every  step  he  would  see  evidences  of  prosperity 
and  happiness. 

Let  the  reader  now  cast  his  eyes  south,  and  compare  the 
steep  declivity  occupied  by  the  people  of  Chili,  advancing 
rapidly  in  population  and  wealth ;  with  the  great  valley  of 
the  La  Plata,  and  its  tribes  of  barbarians  encamped  upon 
lands  capable  of  yielding  the  largest  return  to  labour:  and 
that  will  do  so  when  man  shall  relinquish  the  trade  of  war, 
and  permit  the  earth  to  enrich  himself  and  his  neighbour. 
Here,  as  everywhere,  he  has  evidence  that  cultivation  inva- 
riably commences  on  the  poorer  soils. 

Crossing  now  the  ocean,  let  him  next  take  up  a  map  of 
Roman  Britain,  and  after  a  little  study  determine  for  himself 
where  agriculture  should  first  take  root.  Throughout  the 
southern  portion  of  the  island,  Britannia  Prima,  he  will  see  the 
small  streams  passing  almost  directly  to  the  ocean,  and  thus 
affording  evidence  of  a  tolerably  rapid  fall,  and  of  the  ab- 
sence of  marsh  and  heavily-timbered  land:  and  here,  accord- 
ingly, we  find  the  commencement  of  cultivation.  As  he  ap- 
proaches the  valley  of  the  Thames,  he  may  see  the  marks  of 
population  on  the  high  lands  bordering  it,  but  in  the  valley 
itself  he  sees  little  except  in  the  existence  of  a  single  town. 
Passing  northward,  population  is  everywhere  seen  on  the  flanks 
of  the  central  ridge,  occupying  the  high  grounds  at  the,  heads  of 
the  streams,  but  we  look  in  vain  for  signs  of  life  in  the  lower 
lands :  on  the  banks  of  the  Humber  or  its  tributaries,  or  on 
those  of  the  several  streams  emptying  into  the  Wash.  If, 
now,  he  inquire  for  the  seats  of  early  cultivation,  he  will 


40  MAN    AND    LAND. 

be  referred  to  the  sites  of  the  rotten  boroughs :  to  those  parts 
of  the  kingdom  in  which  men  who  can  neither  read  nor 
write,  still  live  in  mud-built  cottages,  and  receive  nine 
shillings  per  week  for  their  labour :  and  those  commons 
upon  which,  to  so  great  an  extent,  cultivation  has  recom- 
menced.* If  he  seek  the  palace  of  the  Norman  Kings,  he 
will  find  it  at  Winchester,  and  not  in  the  valley  of  the 
Thames.  If  he  ask  for  the  forests  and  swamps  of  the  days 
of  Richard  and  of  Ivanhoe,  he  will  everywhere  be  shown 
cultivated  lands  of  the  highest  fertility.  If  he  seek  the  land 
whose  morasses  had  nearly  swallowed  up  the  army  of  the 
conquering  Norman,  on  his  return  from  the  devastation  of 
the  north :  that  which  daunted  the  antiquary  Camden,  even 
so  late  as  the  age  of  James  I. :  he  will  be  shown  South  Lanca- 
shire, with  its  rich  corn-fields  covered  with  waving  grain, 
and  meadowrs  on  which  pasture  the  finest  cattle.  If  he  ask 
for  the  land  most  recently  taken  into  cultivation — the  new- 
est soils — he  will  be  taken  to  the  fens  of  Lincoln  ;  to  the  late 
sandy  wastes  of  Norfolk ;  where  his  companion  will  exhibit 
to  him  the  marl,  yielding  the  largest  and  best  crops  of  Eng- 
land :  and  then  perhaps  will  accompany  him  on  an  excur- 
sion to  Northumberland  or  Cumberland,  counties  occupied 
two  centuries  since  by  a  population  who  found  plunder 
more  profitable  than  labour.  Southern  England  possessed 
the  land  best  fitted  for  early  cultivation  and  for  that  reason 
least  fitted  for  a  more  advanced  state  of  population  and 
wealth.  Peru  and  Chili  stood  first  on  the  list,  but  Brazil  will 
win  the  -race.  Cultivation  commenced  in  upper  Brazil,  but 
the  banks  of  the  Amazon  will  give  food  to  a  population  ten 
times,  and  perhaps  fifty  times,  greater.  Lower  Canada  took 
precedence  of  Louisiana,  but  the  latter  has  left  her  competi- 
tor far  behind.  New  England  preceded  Pennsylvania,  but 


*  Such  are  the  lands  described  by  Eden,  about  fifty  years  since,  as  « the  sorry 
pastures  of  geese,  hogs,  asses,  half-grown  horses  and  half-starved  cattle,"  and 
existing  by  thousands  of  acres,  but  which  wanted  only  "  to  be  enclosed  and 
taken  care  of,  to  be  as  rich  and  as  valuable  as  any  lands  now  in  tillage." 


MAN    AND    LAND.  41 

the  soil  of  the  latter  will,  at  some  future  time,  enable  her  to 
produce  food  for  ten  times  the  number  of  inhabitants  per  acre 
that  can  be  supported  from  that  of  Massachusetts  or  Rhode 
Island.  The  highest  cultivation  will  ultimately  be  found 
where  there  exists  the  greatest  variety  of  soils,  and  where 
man  is  enabled  to  pass  in  succession  from  the  poor  to 
the  better,  and  thence  to  the  best :  the  last  resulting  from 
the  compounding  of  new  soils  by  aid  of  the  machinery 
which  constitutes  wealth,  and  which  increases  most  rapidly 
where  there  exists  the  greatest  tendency  to  an  increase  of 
population.  The  variety  of  soils  in  the  north  of  England  is  far 
greater  than  in  the  south,  and  hence  the  superiority  of  the 
former  over  the  latter :  a  superiority  that  will  continue  to  be 
maintained. 

If  we  pass  north,  into  Scotland,  and  inquire  for  the  an- 
cient seats  of  cultivation,  and  the  residences  of  the  great 
chiefs  by  whom  the  peace  of  the  country  was  so  frequently 
disturbed,  we  shall  find  them  in  the  higher  regions  of  the 
country.  If  we  desire  to  see  what  has  been  styled  « the  gra- 
nary of  Scotland,"  we  shall  be  referred  to  the  light  and 
easily  cleared  and  cultivated  soils  of  the  Moray  Frith.  If 
we  ask  for  the  newest  soils,  we  shall  be  taken  to  the  Lothi- 
ans,  or  to  the  banks  of  the  Tweed,  inhabited  but  a  short  time 
since  by  barbarians,  whose  greatest  pleasure  was  found  in 
expeditions,  for  the  purpose  of  plunder,  into  the  adjacent  Eng- 
lish counties.  If  we  seek  the  forests  and  swamps  of  the 
days  of  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  we  shall  find  the  finest  farms 
in  Scotland.  If  we  ask  for  the  poorest  people,  we  shall  be 
taken  to  the  isles  of  the  west :  Mull  or  Skye  :  which  were  oc- 
cupied when  meadow-lands  were  undrained :  or  to  the  Ork- 
neys, deemed  in  former  times  so  valuable  as  to  be  received 
by  the  King  of  Norway  in  pledge  for  the  payment  of  a  sum 
of  money,  far  greater,  we  doubt  not,  than  the  poor  islands 
would  but  recently  have  commanded  had  the  sale  included 
the  land  itself  as  well  as  the  right  of  sovereignty.  If  we 
stand  on  the  hills  of  Sutherland,  we  see  around  land  that  has 
F  4* 


42  MAN    AND    LAND. 

been,  from  time  immemorial,  cultivated  by  starving  High- 
landers ;  but  if  we  cast  our  eyes  on  the  flats  below,  we  see 
rich  crops  of  turnips  growing  on  soil  that  was,  but  a  few 
years  since,  a  waste.  Stand  where  we  may :  on  Arthur's 
Seat,  or  Stirling's  towers  ;  or  on  the  hills  which  border  the 
great  valley  of  Scotland :  our  eyes  rest  on  fertile  soils,  al- 
most, even  when  not  wholly,  undrained  and  unoccupied, 
while  around  may  be  seen  high  and  dry  lands  that  have  been 
in  cultivation  for  centuries. 

In  the  days  of  Caesar,  the  most  powerful  nations  of  Gaul 
are  seen  clustering  round  the  Alps,  and  occupying  the 
lands  that  now  yield  the  smallest  return  to  labour.  If  we 
seek  on  the  map  for  the  cities  with  whose  names  we  are 
most  familiar,  as  connected  with  the  history  of  France 
in  the  days  of  the  founder  of  the  Capetian  race,  of  St. 
Louis,  and  of  Philip  Augustus :  Chalons,  St.  Quentin,  Sois- 
sons,  Rheims,  Troyes,  Nancy,  Orleans,  Bourges,  Dijon,  Vi- 
enne,  Nismes,  Toulouse,  or  Cahors,  once  the  great  centre 
of  the  banking  operations  of  France :  we  shall  find  them 
far  towards  the  heads  of  the  rivers  on  which  they  stand, 
or  occupying  the  high  grounds  between  the  rivers.  If  we 
seek  the  centres  of  power  at  a  later  period,  we  may  find 
them  in  wild  and  savage  Brittany,  yet  inhabited  by  a  peo- 
ple but  little  removed  from  barbarism :  at  Dijon,  at  the  foot 
of  the  Alps :  in  Auvergne,  even  yet  a  "  secret  and  safe  asy- 
lum of  crime,  amidst  inaccessible  rocks  and  wilds,  which 
natare  seems  to  have  designed  rather  for  beasts  than  men  :"* 
in  the  Limousin,  which  gave  to  the  church  so  many  popes 
that  the  Limousin  cardinals  at  length  were  almost  enabled 
to  dictate  the  proceedings  of  the  Conclave,  yet  is  now  the 
poorest  part  of  France  :  or  on  the  side  of  the  Pyrenees,  in 
Gascony,  the  country  of  the  Armagnacs,  and  of  crimes  al- 
most unparalleled.  If  we  look,  at  any  of  these  periods,  to- 
wards the  lands  further  down  the  slope,  we  find  the  tend- 

*  Flechier. 


MAN   AND    LAND.  43 

encyto  their  occupation  very  small  indeed,  in  regard  to  any 
of  those  forming  a  part  of  the  kingdom  of  France  :  but  greatly 
increasing  as  we  reach  Guienne  and  Normandy,  the  two  pro- 
vinces in  which  population  and  wealth  increased  most  ra- 
pidly, by  reason  of  their  connection  with  England,  under 
whose  sway  their  rights  were  respected  to  a  degree  entirely 
unknown  to  the  other  provinces.  In  these  grew  up  the 
love  of  labour  and  the  habit  of  trade.  In  the  others,  the  love 
of  plunder  and  the  contempt  for  all  honest  industry,  common 
to  all  men  who  cultivate  the  poorest  soils. 

If  we  look  to  the  state  of  France  at  present,  we  shall 
see  that  the  poor  soils  alone  are  almost  universally  culti- 
vated. Immense  forests  :  the  same  in  which  roamed  the  hogs 
raised  by  the  Gauls  for  the  market  of  Rome :  still  cover 
many  of  the  best  lands,  while  from  those  which  are  cul- 
tivated the  return  is  frequently  but  thrice  the  seed,  be- 
cause of  the  extreme  imperfection  of  the  machinery  used  in 
the  work  of  ploughing  and  drainage :  the  poor  farmer  doing 
little  more  than  scratch  the  surface  to  bring  the  top-soil 
into  use.  France  is  buying  bad  land  in  Algeria,  at  the 
cost  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  lives  and  hundreds  of 
millions  of  treasure,  which,  if  applied  to  bringing  into  activity 
the  best  soils  of  her  old  lands,  now  dormant  because  of  the 
poverty  of  the  people,  would  perhaps  enable  her  to  main- 
tain the  position  in  the  world  she  appears  to  be  so  ra- 
pidly losing.  In  that  country  population  increases  very 
slowly,  and  wealth  but  little  faster,  as  must  be  the  case  al- 
ways with  those  who  cannot  clear  and  drain  the  better  soils,  in- 
variably last  in  being  cultivated.  The  mountains  and  moors 
of  Limburg  and  Luxemburg  were  occupied  far  in  advance 
of  the  rich  meadows  of  Holland,  and  while  the  fertile  soils 
of  Flanders  and  of  Zealand  presented  to  view  only  salt 
marshes  and  sandy  wastes. 

In  the  early  history  of  Holland,  we  see  a  miserable  peo- 
ple, surrounded  by  forests  and  marshes  covering  the  most 
fertile  lands,  but  living  on  islands  of  sand,  and  forced  to  con- 


44  MAN    AND    LAND. 

tent  themselves  with  eggs,  fish,  and  very  small  supplie,^  of 
vegetable  food  of  any  kind.  Their  extreme  poverty  ex- 
empted them  from  the  grinding  taxation  of  Rome,  and  the 
unceasing  vexations  of  Roman  proconsuls,  and  by  slow  de- 
grees they  grew  in  numbers  and  wealth.  Unable  by  means 
of  agriculture  to  obtain  food,  they  sought  it  from  commerce. 
With  further  growth,  we  see  them  then  extending  themselves 
over  the  land  that  could  be  cultivated,  and  gradually  clear- 
ing the  woods  and  draining  the  marshes,  until  at  length 
we  find  a  nation  the  wealthiest  in  Europe.  In  this  case  po- 
pulation and  wealth  appear  to  have  spread  rather  upwards 
than  downwards,  because  they  had  their  origin  in  commerce 
and  not  in  agriculture.  Here,  however,  we  have  further 
illustration  of  the  fact  that  men  always  commence  with  the 
poorest  soils.  Commerce  sought  a  shelter  from  Roman 
tyranny  in  the  marshes  of  Holland,  as  we  find  it  after- 
wards to  have  done  among  the  lagunes  of  Venice,  and  be- 
hind the  rocks  of  Amalfi,  and  the  mountains  of  Liguria. 
These  were  the  worst  commercial  soils,  but  they  were  those 
that  could  alone  be  cultivated,  for  they  were  those  in  which 
alone  could  security  of  person  and  property,  so  necessary 
to  success  in  commerce,  be  obtained. 

In  Germany,  we  see  the  mass  of  the  early  population  on 
the  higher  part  of  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Alps,  and  as  we 
pass  towards  the  mouths  of  the  rivers  it  becomes  less  and 
less  dense,  and  the  low  lands  are  seen  to  exist  more  and 
more  in  a  state  of  nature. 

Passing  into  Italy,  we  see  a  numerous  population  in  the 
high  lands  of  Cisalpine  Gaul,  at  a  period  when  the  rich 
soils  of  Venetia  were  unoccupied.  As  we  advance  south- 
wards, along  the  flanks  of  the  Apennines,  we  find  a  gra- 
dually increasing  population,  with  an  increasing  tendency  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  better  soils,  and  towns  whose  age 
may  almost  be  inferred  from  their  situation.  Thus  Veii  and 
Alba  were  built  when  the  banks  of  the  Tiber  were  unoc- 
cupied, and  Aquileia  filled  a  place  in  Roman  history 


MAN    AND    LAND.  45 

which  was  denied  to  the  little  place  that  then  occupied  the 
site  of  modern  Pisa. 

In  Greece,  we  mark  the  same  great  and  universal  fact. 
The  meagre  soil  of  Attica,  every  foot  of  which  drains  itself, 
was  among  the  earliest  fitted  for  cultivation,  and  there  popu- 
lation and  wealth  grew  rapidly ;  while  the  fat  Boeotia,  re- 
quiring to  be  cleared  and  drained,  followed  slowly  in  the  rear. 
Passing  south,  along  the  Isthmus,  we  have  full  in  view  on 
the  left  the  short  and  steep  eastern  slope  of  Argolis,  long 
since  abandoned  as  incapable  of  yielding  a  return  to  labour  ; 
yet  there  stand  the  ruins  of  Mycenae,  of  Tirynth  and  Troe- 
zene,  witnesses  to  the  fact  that  the  least  fertile  soils  of  Pe- 
loponnesus :  those  which  were  too  dry  to  require  drainage, 
and  too  poor  to  require  to  be  cleared :  were  first  selected  for 
cultivation.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  ridge,  the  slope 
is  much  longer,  and  the  movement  of  the  waters  more  slug- 
gish. Vegetation  was  far  more  rapid,  and  the  land  would 
have  yielded  a  larger  return  to  labour  had  it  been  acces- 
sible ;  but  here  we  find  precisely  the  same  state  of  things  that 
was  observed  in  South  America,  where  Peru  was  so  early 
cultivated,  while  the  great  valley  remains  to  this  day  an  im- 
practicable wilderness.  On  the  short,  steep,  slope  of  Achaia 
we  find  another  witness  in  the  State  of  Sicyon,  whose  ter- 
ritory was  cultivated  when  the  richer  lands  of  Arcadia  and 
Elis,  watered  by  the  Alpheeus,  were  still  unoccupied. 

If,  now,  we  cross  the  Mediterranean  and  ascend  the  Nile, 
we  find  cultivation  becoming  more  and  more  ancient  as  wre 
rise,  until  at  length  far  towards  its  head  we  reach  Thebes, 
the  first  capital  of  Egypt.  With  the  growth  of  popula- 
tion and  of  wealth,  we  find  the  city  of  Memphis  becoming 
the  capital  of  the  kingdom :  but  still  later,  the  Delta  is  oc- 
cupied, and  towns  and  cities  rise  in  places  that  to  the  earlier 
kings  were  inaccessible,  and  with  every  step  in  this  progress, 
there  was  increased  return  to  labour. 

Passing  by  the  Red  Sea,  and  entering  the  Pacific,  we  may 
see  innumerable  rich  islands,  whose  lower  lands  are  un 


46  MAN    AND    LAND. 

occupied,  because  of  their  superior  richness  rendering  them 
dangerous  to  life,  while  population  clusters  round  the  hills. 
Farther  south,  are  rich  valleys  in  Australia,  uninhabited,  or,  if 
inhabited  at  all,  by  a  people  standing  lowest  in  the  catalogue 
of  the  human  race ;  while  on  the  little  high-pointed  islands 
of  the  coast,  distant  but  a  few  miles,  are  found  a  superior 
race,  with  houses,  cultivation,  and  manufactures.  Here  we 
find  precisely  the  facts  offered  by  South  America  and  Argolis. 
Turning  our  steps  northward,  towards  India,  we  meet  Cey- 
lon, in  the  centre  of  which  are  found  the  dominions  of  the 
king  of  Candy,  whose  subjects  have  the  same  aversion  to 
the  low  and  rich  lands,  unhealthy  in  their  present  state,  that 
is  felt  by  the  people  of  Mexico  and  of  Java.  Entering  India 
by  Cape  Comorin,  and  following  the  great  range  of  high  lands, 
the  back-bone  of  the  peninsula,  we  find  the  cities  of  Seringa- 
patam,  Poonah,  and  Ahmednugger,  while  below,  near  the 
coast,  are  seen  the  European  cities  of  Madras,  Calcutta  and 
Bombay,  the  creation  of  a  very  recent  day.  Intermediate 
between  the  two,  are  seen  numerous  cities,  whose  positions, 
sometimes  far  away  from  the  banks  of  the  rivers,  and  at 
other  times  near  v  their  sources,  show  that  the  most  fertile 
lands  have  not  been  those  first  cultivated.  Standing  on 
the  high  lands  between  Calcutta  and  Bombay,  we  have  on 
the  one  hand  the  delta  of  the  Indus,  and  on  the  other  that  of 
the  Ganges.  The  former  remains  yet  entirely  unoccupied. 
Through  hundreds  of  miles  that  river  rolls  its  course,  almost 
without  a  settlement  on  its  banks,  while  on  the  higher  coun- 
try, right  and  left,  exists  a  numerous  population.  On  the 
Ganges,  the  first  city  that  we  meet,  Patna,  is  distant  from  its 
mouth  almost  five  hundred  miles.  Then  follow  Benares, 
Agra,  and,  at  length,  far  up  towards  its  head,  we  meet  Delhi, 
the  capital  of  all  India  while  yet  the  government  remained 
in  the  hands  of  its  native  sovereigns.  Here,  as  everywhere 
else,  man  avoids  the  low  rich  soils  that  need  clearing  and 
drainage,  and  seeks  in  the  high  lands  that  drain  themselves 
the  means  of  employing  his  labour  in  the  search  for  food : 


MAN    AND    LAND.  47 

and  here,  as  everywhere  else  where  the  top-soil  of  the 
dry  land  alone  is  cultivated,  the  return  to  labour  is  small ; 
and  hence  it  is  that  we  find  the  Hindoo  working  for  a  rupee, 
or  perhaps  two,  per  month  :  sufficient  only  to  give  him  a  hand- 
ful of  rice  per  day,  and  to  purchase  a  rag  of  cotton  cloth 
with  which  to  cover  his  loins.  The  most  fertile  soils  exist  in 
unlimited  quantity  on  land  that  is  untouched,  and  close  to  that 
which  the  labourer  scratches  with  a  stick  for  want  of  a  spade, 
making  his  harvest  with  his  hands  for  want  of  a  reaping 
hook,  and  carrying  home  upon  his  shoulders  the  miserable 
crop,  for  want  of  a  horse  and  a  cart.  We  have  here  pre- 
cisely the  state  of  things  that,  were  Mr.  Ricardo's  doctrine 
true,  should  give  the  highest  prosperity,  yet  famine  and  pes- 
tilence are  frequent,  and  men  rob  and  murder  on  the  high- 
way, to  an  extent  and  with  a  coolness  unknown  in  any  other 
country  ;  because  of  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  subsistence 
by  honest  industry  where  land  abounds  and  man  is  scarce. 
Passing  northward,  by  Caubul  and  Afghanistan,  and  leav- 
ing on  our  left  the  barren  Persia  whose  weak  dry  soils  have 
been  cultivated  through  a  long  series  t)f  ages,  we  attain  the 
Himalaya  range,  the  highest  point  of  the  earth's  surface. 
Looking  down,  we  see  immediately  around  the  cradle  of  the 
human  race,  where  head  the  streams  that  empty  into  the  Frozen 
Ocean  and  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Pa- 
cific. It  is  the  land,  of  all  others,  suited  to  the  purpose :  that 
which  will  most  readily  afford  to  the  man  who  works  with- 
out a  spade  or  an  axe,  a  small  supply  of  food.  Here  we  are 
surrounded  by  man  in  a  state  of  barbarism :  and  standing 
here,  we  may  trace  the  course  of  successive  tribes  and  na- 
tions passing  towards  the  lower  and  more  productive  lands, 
yet  compelled  in  all  cases  to  seek  the  route  that  is  least 
disturbed  with  water  courses,  and  therefore  keeping  the 
ridge  that  divides  the  waters  of  the  Black  Sea  and  the 
Mediterranean  from  those  of  the  Baltic :  standing  here  we 
may  mark  them,  as  they  descend  the  slope,  sometimes  stop- 
ping for  the  purpose  of  cultivating  the  poor  land  that  can, 


48  MAN    AND    LAND. 


their  indifferent  machinery,  be  made  to  yield  a  small 
supply  of  food  ;  and  at  other  times  marching  on  and  reaching 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  sea,  there  to  place  themselves,  not 
on  the  rich  lands,  but  on  the  poor  soils  of  the  steep  hillside  — 
those  on  which  water  cannot  stand  to  give  nourishment 
to  trees,  or  to  afford  annoyance  to  settlers  whose  means  are 
inadequate  to  the  draining  of  swamps  and  marshes  :  or  on  lit- 
tle peaked  islands,  from  which  the  water  passes  rapidly,  as 
in  the  case  of  those  of  the  ^Egean,  cultivated  from  so  early 
a  period.  We  mark  some  of  these  tribes  gradually  reach- 
ing the  Mediterranean,  where  civilization  is  first  found,  and 
soonest  lost  under  the  weight  of  successive  waves  of  emigra- 
tion, while  others  are  seen  passing  farther  west,  and  entering 
Italy,  and  France,  and  Spain.  Others,  more  adventurous, 
reach  the  British  isles.  Again,  after  a  rest  of  a  few  cen- 
turies, we  see  them  crossing  the  broad  Atlantic,  and  com- 
mencing the  ascent  of  the  slope  of  the  Allegheny,  prepara- 
tory to  the  ascent  and  passage  of  the  great  range  that  divides 
the  waters  of  the  Pacific  from  those  of  the  Atlantic  ;  and  in 
all  cases  we  mark  the  pioneers,  gladly  seizing  on  the  clear  dry 
land  of  the  hillsides,  in  preference  to  the  rich  and  highly 
wooded  land  of  the  river  bottoms.  Everywhere  we  see  them, 
as  population  gradually  increases,  descending,  equally  gra- 
dually, the  sides  of  the  hills  and  mountains  towards  the  rich 
lands  at  their  feet  :  and  everywhere,  with  the  growth  of  num- 
bers, penetrating  the  earth  to  reach  the  lower  soils,  to  ena- 
ble them  to  combine  the  upper  clay,  or  sand,  writh  the  lower 
marl,  or  lime,  and  thus  compounding  for  themselves,  out  of 
the  various  materials  with  which  they  have  been  provided  by 
the  Deity,  a  soil  capable  of  yielding  a  larger  return  than  that 
upon  which  they  were  at  first  compelled  to  expend  their  la- 
bours. Everywhere,  with  increased  power  of  union,  we  see 
them  exercising  increased  power  over  land.  Everywhere, 
as  the  new  soils  are  brought  into  activity,  and  as  they  are 
enabled  to  obtain  larger  returns,  we  find  more  rapid  increase 
of  population,  producing  increased  tendency  to  combination 


MAN    AND    LAND.  49 

of  exertion,  by  which  the  powers  of  the  individual  labourer 
are  trebled,  quadrupled,  and  quintupled,  and  sometimes  fifty- 
fold  increased  ;  enabling  him  better  to  provide  for  his  imme- 
diate wants,  while  accumulating  more  rapidly  the  machinery 
by  means  of  which  he  hopes  further  to  increase  his  power 
of  production,  and  to  bring  to  light  the  vast  treasures  of 
nature.  Everywhere,  we  find  that  with  increasing  population 
the  supply  of  food  becomes  more  abundant  and  regular, 
and  clothing  and  shelter  are  obtained  with  greater  ease; 
famine  and  pestilence  tend  to  pass  away ;  health  becomes 
more  universal ;  life  becomes  more  and  more  prolonged,  and 
man  becomes  more  happy  and  more  free. 

In  regard  to  all  the  wants  of  man,  except  the  single  and 
important  one  of  food,  such  is  admitted  to  be  the  case.  It  is 
seen  that  with  the  growth  of  population  and  of  wealth  men 
obtain  water,  and  iron,  and  coal,  and  clothing,  and  the  use 
of  houses,  and  ships,  and  roads,  in  return  for  less  labour  than 
was  at  first  required.  It  is  not  doubted  that  the  great  work 
produced  at  a  cost  of  ten  millions,  by  means  of  which  the 
Croton  river  is  carried  through  the  city  of  New  York,  enables 
men  to  obtain  water  at  less  cost  than  was  required  when  each 
man  took  a  bucket  and  helped  himself  on  the  Hudson's  bank. 
It  is  seen  that  the  shaft  which  has  required  years  to  sink, 
and  to  discharge  the  water  from  which  the  most  powerful  en- 
gines are  required,  supplies  fuel  more  cheaply  than  at  first, 
when  the  settlers  carried  home  the  scraps  of  half-decom- 
posed timber  for  want  of  an  axe  with  which  to  cut  the  al- 
ready fallen  log :  that  the  grist-mill  converts  the  grain  into 
flour  at  less  cost  of  labour  than  was  needed  when  it  was 
pounded  between  two  stones :  and  that  the  gigantic  factory 
supplies  cloth  more  cheaply  than  the  little  loom :  but  it  is  denied 
that  such  is  the  case  with  food.  In  regard  to  every  thing 
else,  man  commences  with  the  worst  machinery  and  pro-' 
ceeds  upward  towards  the  best :  but  in  regard  to  food,  and  that 
alone,  he  commences,  according  to  Mr.  Ricardo,  with  the  best 
and  proceeds  downward  towards  the  worst :  and  with  every 

5 


50  MAN    AND    LAND. 

stage  of  the  progress  finds  a  decreasing  return  to  his  labour, 
threatening  starvation  and  admonishing  him  against  raising 
children  to  aid  him  in  his  age,  lest  they  should  imitate 
the  conduct  of  the  people  of  India  and  of  the  islands  of  the 
Pacific,  (where  land  however  is  abundant  and  food  should  be 
cheap,)  and  bury  him  alive,  or  expose  him  on  the  river  shore, 
that  they  may  divide  among  themselves  his  modicum  of 
food. 

How  far  all  this  is  true,  we  must  leave  to  the  reader  to 
judge.  All  others  of  the  laws  of  nature  are  broad  and  uni- 
versally true,  and  we  are  disposed  to  hope  that  he  may  now 
agree  with  us  in  believing  that  there  is  one  law,  and  one  alone, 
for  food,  light,  air,  clothing,  and  fuel:  and  that  man,  in 
all  and  every  case,  commences  with  the  worst  machinery  and 
proceeds  onward  to  the  best ;  thus  enabled,  with  the  growth 
of  wealth,  population,  and  the  habit  of  union,  to  obtain  with 
constantly  diminishing  labour  an  increased  supply  of  all  the 
necessaries,  conveniences,  comforts,  and  luxuries  of  life. 


The  second  proposition  is,  that  with  the  increase  of  po- 
pulation it  becomes  necessary  to  resort  to  soils  of  inferior  fer- 
tility, yielding  a  smaller  return  to  labour. 

If  man  begins  always  with  the  best  soils,  then  is  this  pro- 
position true,  and  with  every  step  in  the  progress  of  popula 
tion,  he  loses  more  and  more  the  control  over  his  own  ar- 
tions — becoming  the  victim  of  an  overruling  necessity.  If,  on 
the  contrary,  he  begins  with  the  poor  soils,  'and  passes  gn- 
dually  towards  the  best,  every  step  should  be  accompanied 
by  increasing  power  to  select  such  soils  as  are  best  suited  to 
his  purpose,  taking  sometimes  the  light  sand,  and  at  others 
the  heavy  marl :  at  one  time  the  clay,  and  at  another  the 
lime  :  at  one  time  the  iron  and  at  another  the  coal :  the  hill- 
top or  the  river  bottom  :  the  near  or  the  distant :  the  superfi- 
cial or  the  profound :  as  he  deems  them  best  calculated  to 


MAN    AND    LAND.  51 

minister  to  his  wants  and  those  of  his  family,  and  to  enable 
him  to  accumulate  the  machinery  required  for  exercising  still 
greater  power  over  the  materials  provided  by  the  Creator  for 
his  use,  and  awaiting  his  draft.  If  increasing  population  \ 
produce  necessity,  the  standard  of  man,  physical,  moral,  in- 
tellectual, and  political,  must  fall.  If  it  give  him  power,  the 
standard  must  rise,  and  he  must  feed  better,  clothe  himself 
better,  lodge  better,  act  better,  think  better,  and  exercise  in 
relation  to  all  the  actions  of  his  life  a  volition  increasing  with 
every  step  in  the  growth  of  his  power  over  the  material 
world.  Which  of  those  two  classes  of  phenomena  it  is  that 
has  been  seen  to  appear,  we  propose  now  to  examine. 

In  1760,  the  population  of  England  and  Wales  was 
6,479,000.  It  is  now  about  16,000,000.  The  total  quan- 
tity of  grain  produced  in  the  former  period  was  estimated  at 
15,349,000  quarters,  and  the  exports  exceeded  the  imports  by 
400,000  quarters.  The  whole  quantity  of  land  is  about 
37,000,000  of  acres.  Of  this,  a  very  large  portion  was  un- 
enclosed and  uncultivated,  so  recently  as  the  closing  years  of 

the  last  century.     Eden,  writing  in  1797,  speaks  of  Great i 

Britain  as  a  country  «  disfigured  and  burdened  everywhere" 
with  "immeasurable  wastes,  commons,  and  heaths,"  and 
resembling  "  one  of  those  huge  unwieldy  cloaks  worn  in 
Italy  and  Spain,  of  which  a  very  small  part  is  serviceable  to 
the  wearer,  while  the  rest  is  not  only  useless,  but  cumber- 
some and  oppressive."  He  regarded  it  as  containing,  "  in 
proportion  to  its  size,  more  acres  of  waste  land  than 
any  civilized  kingdom  in  the  world,  Russia  itself  not  ex- 
cepted." 

How  great  must  have  been  the  extension  of  cultivation 
since  the  period  first  named,  may  be  judged  from  the  fact 
that,  independently  of  all  private  land  that  has  since  been 
cleared  and  drained,  and  manured,  and  limed,  and  marled, 
and  thus  rendered  fit  for  the  production  of  food,  about  eight 
millions  of  acres  of  commons  and  wastes :  almost  one-fourth 
of  the  whole  surface :  have  been  enclosed  under  acts  of  Parlia- 


52  MAN   AND    LAND. 

ment.  We  suppose  it  fair  to  infer  that  the  quantity  now  in 
cultivation  is,  at  the  lowest  calculation,  twice  as  great  as  at 
the  accession  of  George  III.,  in  1760.  With  this  extension 
over  the  surface,  there  has  been  a  corresponding  descent  into 
the  bowels  of  the  land,  and  the  lower  soils  have  been  to  a 
wonderful  extent  combined  with  the  superficial  ones.  The 
underlying  marl  of  Norfolk  and  Lincoln  has  been  combined 
with  the  sand,  and  throughout  the  kingdom  lime  has  been,  to 
an  extent  not  to  be  estimated,  combined  with  the  clay,  the 
power  to  accomplish  which  has  resulted  from  the  cultivation  of 
the  iron  and  coal  soils,  always  among  the  last  to  be  brought 
into  full  activity.  The  effect  of  this  may  be  judged  from  the 
fact  that  the  same  land  which  in  the  former  period  yielded, 
in  addition  to  "the  grain,  but  about  forty  tons  of  straw,  now 
yields  the  same  grain  and  more  than  five  hundred  tons  of 
straw,  hay,  and  turnips,  as  food  for  the  cattle  required  to  meet 
the  demands  of  the  meat  markets  of  the  kingdom  :  demands 
thrice  exceeding  those  of  the  former  period.  The  weight 
of  food,  per  acre,  is  considerably  more  than  twice  as  great 
as  was  then  obtained,  and  the  number  of  acres  being  doubled, 
we  have  five  times  the  quantity  of  food  to  be  distributed, 
while  the  population  has  increased  but  one  hundred  and 
L  fifty  per  cent. 

To  this  must,  however,  be  added  the  vast  quantity  of  ani- 
mal and  vegetable  food  obtained  from  Ireland  and  Scotland, 
the  imports  from  America  and  the  continent  of  Europe  :  the 
sugar  and  coffee  of  the  West  Indies  and  Brazil :  and  the  tea 
from  China :  the  commerce  in  all  of  which  existed  to  a  very 
small  extent  in  1760.  The  weight  of  these  three  articles 
now  consumed  exceeds  300,000  tons,  or  1,200,000  quarters, 
being  nearly  one-twelfth  part  as  much  as  all  the  grain  pro- 
duced in  1760,  when  the  export  exceeded  the  import.  The 
amount  of  food  now  imported  is  almost  equal  to  the  whole 
quantity  consumed  at  that  period,  and  this,  added  to  the  pro- 
duct of  agriculture  at  home,  would  give  six  times  the  quan- 
tity of  food,  with  only  two  and  a  half  times  the  population 


MAN    AND    LAND.  53 

making  the  average  about  two  and  a  half  times  as  much  per 
head  for  the  whole  community. 

The  number  of  families  in  England  and  Wales,  in 
1831,  was  2,900,000,  and  of  these  but  835,000  were  en- 
gaged in  agriculture.  The  average  size  of  families  is  about 
five  persons,  and  this  would  give  about  4,200,000  as  the 
amount  of  that  class  of  the  people.  In  1760,  the  mass  of 
the  population  was  of  that  description,  and  we  are  disposed 
to  believe  that  an  allowance  of  one-half  is  far  below  the 
truth.  If  so,  the  result  would  be,  that  while  the  number  of 
persons  employed  in  agriculture  had  increased  by  only  one- 
third,  the  product  had  increased  five  times,  and  that  the  re- 
turn to  the  labour  employed  was,  per  head,  almost  four  times 
greater  than  at  that  period.  Such  being  the  case,  the  new 
soils  must  be  far  better  than  the  old,  and  the  great  increase 
of  population,  which,  according  to  Mr.  Ricardo's  doctrine, 
should  have  brought  with  it  increased  necessity,  has  been  ac- 
companied by  a  steadily  increasing  power  to  consume  the  pro- 
duce of  rich  meadow-lands  that  now  yield  fat  beef,  where,  be- 
fore, forests  and  swramps  gave  but  the  meat  of  the  half-starved 
ox,  or  half-fed  hog,  upon  which  landlords  banqueted  when 
land  was  abundant :  and  thereto  to  add  the  produce  of  the  soils 
of  China  and  India,  Mexico  and  Brazil,  Cuba  and  Carolina. 
Wealth  has  grown  faster  than  population,  and  the  man  of 
England  has  become  lord  of  all  the  soils  of  the  world,  selecting 
at  his  pleasure  the  commodities  that  he  prefers :  whereas, 
when  the  poor  soils  alone  were  cultivated,  he  took  what  he 
could  get,  and  as  necessity  had  no  law,  the  worst  bread  was 
then  welcome,  and  a  herring  at  harvest  time  was  a  luxury. 

Nearly  three  millions  of  families  are  to  be  fed,  where  in 
1760  there  were  but  little  over  1,200,000,  and  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  quantity  of  food  imported,  the  whole  is  pro- 
duced by  the  labour  of  a  number  of  persons  but  little  greater 
than  was  then  employed  in  agriculture,  which  could  not  be 
the  case  did  not  the  labour  employed  on  the  soils  since  brought 
into  cultivation  yield  a  greatly  increased  return.  That  they 


54  MAN   AND   LAND. 

do  yield  such  increase  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  in  1760 
the  great  mass  of  labour  of  the  country  was  required  for  the 
production  of  vegetable  food,  whereas  much  of  it  is  now 
employed  in  the  cultivation  of  animals  that  yield  hides  that 
are  almost  equally  with  food  essential  to  the  comfort  of  man : 
much  in  producing  the  fuel  required  to  keep  him  warm  and 
preserve  his  health  :  and  a  vast  portion  of  it  in  the  fabrica- 
tion of  clothing,  of  which  such  vast  quantities  are  consumed 
at  home :  other  portions  being  exchanged  for  sugar,  tea, 
coffee,  rice,  cheese,  butter,  &c.,  which  millions  have  learned 
to  regard  as  absolute  necessaries,  though  but  recently  luxu- 
ries unattainable  even  by  some  who  were  ranked  among 
the  rich.  At  every  step  there  is  an  increased  consciousness 
in  man  of  the  existence  of  power  to  improve  his  condition, 
producing  increased  desire  of  improvement.  Desire  pro- 
duces determination,  and  determination  creates  power. 

At  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the  population  was 
probably  about  two  and  a  half  millions.  Fertile  land  abounded, 
but  men  cultivated  the  poor  soils,  because  unable  to  clear 
and  drain  the  rich  ones.  Of  this  we  have  evidence  in 
various  statements  that  have  come  down  to  us  of  the  ac- 
tual contents  of  farms  and  messuages,  some  of  which  are 
given  by  Eden.  Six  of  these,  of  various  dates  from  1359  to 
1400,  contained  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  forty-two 
acres  of  arable,  and  but  one  hundred  and  fifty-one  of  mea- 
dow and  pasture  land.  The  return  to  the  .husbandman 
averaged  less  than  a  quarter  to  the  acre,  and  if  from  this  be 
deducted  two  bushels  for  the  seed,  we  have  six  bushels  as 
the  product  of  labour.  The  population  is  now  about  six  and 
a  half  times  greater,  but  the  number  of  persons  who  live  by 
the  labours  of  the  field  is  not  three  times  greater,  while  the 
land  in  cultivation  is  probably  ten  times  as  great ;  and  the 
average  yield  per  acre,  estimating  green  crops  as  beef  and 
mutton,  and  looking  to  the  vast  yield  of  potatoes  and  various 
other  articles  of  vegetable  food,  is  at  least  six  times  as  great : 
probably  even  far  more.  If  this  be  so,. the  return  to  labour 


MAN    AND    LAND.  55 

employed  on  the  soils  brought  into  use  since  the  days  of  the 
Edwards,  is  more  than  twenty  times  as  great  as  when  good 
land  abounded,  and  when,  according  to  Mr.  Ricardo,  none 
were  required  for  cultivation  but  those  which  would  yield  the 
largest  return.  Hence  it  is  that  so  large  a  population  can 
be  fed,  while  applying  themselves  to  the  production  of  fuel, 
clothing,  and  machinery  of  every  description  fitted  to  pro- 
mote the  comfort  and  happiness  of  man. 

In  « the  good  old  times"  of  Ivanhoe  and  Richard,  when 
fertile  land  was  abundant  and  people  rare,  the  Saxon  hogs 
roamed  the  woods,  living  upon  acorns  produced  from  oaks 
that  Cedric  lacked  the  means  to  fell.  Later,  half-starved 
sheep  fed  upon  lands  incapable  of  yielding  grain,  but  cows 
and  oxen  were  few,  because  the  fine  rich  meadow  was  co- 
vered with  wood  and  so  saturated  with  moisture  as  to  be 
inaccessible.  Maids  of  honour  then  luxuriated  on  bacon,  and 
labourers  banqueted  upon  "the  strength  of  water-gruel,"  as 
did  sixty  years  since  many  of  the  people  of  those  northern 
counties,*  which  now  present  to  view  the  finest  farms  in  Eng- 
land, the  rich  soils  composing  which  were  then  awaiting  the 
growth  of  population  and  of  wealth.  A  piece  of  fat  pork 
was,  in  those  days,  an  article  of  luxury  rarely  to  be  ob- 
tained by  the  labourer.  Even  within  a  century,  the  bread 
consumed  by  a  large  portion  of  the  people  was  made  of  bar- 
ley, rye,  and  oats,  the  consumption  of  wheat  being  limited 
to  the  rich  ;  the  quantity  produced  being  small.  It  is  now  in 
universal  use,  although  so  recently  as  1727  an  eight  acre 
field  of  it,  near  Edinburgh,  was  deemed  a  curiosity.  As 
late  as  1763,  there  was  no  such  person  as  a  public  butcher 
known  in  Glasgow.  It  was  the  custom  of  families  to  buy  a 
half-fed  ox  in  the  autumn  and  salt  down  the  meat  as  the  year's 
supply  of  animal  food.  The  state  of  things  there  is  an  in- 
dex to  that  which  existed  in  the  Lothians,  and  in  Northum- 
berland and  other  counties  of  the  north  of  England,  where 


Eden. 


5b  MAN   AND    LAND. 

may  now  be  seen  the  most  prosperous  agriculture  of  Britain. 
At  that  time  men  cultivated,  not  the  best  soils,  but  those 
which  they  could  cultivate,  leaving  the  rich  ones  for  their 
successors :  and  in  this  they  did  what  is  done  now  every  day 
by  the  settlers  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin. 

While  wheaten  bread  has  thus  succeeded  the  compound  of 
barley,  rye,  and  acorns,  once  denominated  bread,  and  which 
was  supposed  to  afford  more  nourishment,  because  it  re- 
mained longer  in  the  stomach,  and  was  less  easily  digested  :  an 
idea  repeated  in  the  present  day  by  the  poor  Irish  peasant,  who 
prefers  the  miserable  potato  called  the  lumper,  because  it  has, 
as  he  says,  a  bone  in  it :  fat  mutton  and  beef  have  succeeded  the 
salt  herring  on  the  table  of  the  artisan  and  labourer,  and  the 
mast-fed  bacon  on  that  of  the  landlord.  Within  a  century 
the  average  weight  of  cattle  has  risen  from  three  hundred 
and  seventy  to  eight  hundred  pounds,  and  that  of  sheep  from 
twenty-eight  to  eighty  pounds,  and  the  number  consumed  has 
increased  more  rapidly  than  the  weight.  The  quantity  of 
wool,  of  hides,  and  of  other  materials  for  manufactures  of 
various  kinds,  is  immense,  and  yet  the  agricultural  popula- 
tion is  certainly  not  three  times  as  great  as  in  the  days  of 
the  Black  Prince.  The  return  to  labour  has  therefore  largely 
increased  as,  with  increased  numbers,  man  has  acquired 
power  over  the  various  soils,  then  too  deep  or  distant  to  be 
cultivated  with  the  means  at  his  command,  but  now  required 
for  the  supply  of  the  greatly  increased  and  thriving  population. 

Mr.  Ricardo's  proposition  is  diametrically  opposed  to  all 
the  facts  presented  by  the  history  of  the  United  States  :  of 
England  :  and  of  the  World  :  whereas  the  following  is  in  strict 
accordance  therewith  : 

With  the  increase  of  population  there  arises  a  habit  of 
union,  tending  to  promote  the  growth  of  wealth  and  to  facilitate 
the  acquisition  of  machinery  to  be  used  in  aid  of  labour ; 
and  with  each  step  in  this  progress,  man  acquires  increased 
power  over  the  materials  of  which  the  earth  is  composed,  and 
increased  power  to  determine  for  himself  which  to  select 


MAN    AND    LAND.  57 

for  cultivation,  as  being  most  likely  to  promote  the  object  v 
of  maintaining  and  improving  his  condition  ;  and  with  every 
increase  of  this  power  he  is  enabled  to  obtain  a  larger  return 
to  his  labour,  and  to  consume  more,  while  accumulating 
with  still  increased  rapidity  the  machinery  required  for  fur- 
ther improvement. 

The  third  proposition  is,  that  with  the  necessity  for  applying 
labour  less  productively  which  thus  accompanies  the  growth 
of  population,  rent  arises:  the  owner  of  land  No.  1,  yielding 
one  hundred  quarters,  being  enabled  to  demand  and  to  ob- 
tain in  return  for  its  use,  ten  quarters  when  resort  is  had  to 
those  of  second  quality,  yielding  ninety  quarters  :  and  twenty 
when  No.  3  is  brought  into  use,  yielding  only  eighty  quarters.  /  ' 

Were  all  land  of  precisely  equal  productive  power,  this 
necessity  could  not  be  supposed  to  arise ;  yet  compensation 
would  still  be  paid  for  the  use  of  a  farm  provided  with  build- 
ings and  enclosures,  that  would  be  denied  to  the  owner  of  one 
which  remained  in  a  state  of  nature.  That  compensation  is 
regarded  by  Mr.  Ricardo  as  being  only  interest  upon  capital, 
and  to  be  distinguished  from  what  is  paid  for  the  use  of  the 
powers  of  the  soil.  When  lands  of  different  capabilities  are^ 
in  use,  and  all  equally  provided  with  fences,  houses,  barns, 
&c.,  he  supposes  the  owner  of  No.  1  to  receive  the  interest 
upon  his  capital,  plus  the  difference  between  the  one  hundred 
quarters  that  it  is  capable  of  yielding,  and  the  ninety,  eighty, 
or  seventy  quarters  that  may  be  yielded  by  the  soil  of  lowest 
power  that  the  necessities  of  man  have  compelled  him  to 
cultivate.  This  difference  he  holds  to  be  the  true  rent. 

If,  however,  cultivation  always  commence  on  the  poorer 
soils,  and  proceed  from  them  to  the  better  ones,  the  reverse 
course  should  be  pursued ;  and  the  owner  of  the  land  first 
cultivated  should  receive  interest,  minus  the  difference  be- 
tween its  powers  and  those  of  other  lands  that  may,  with  the 
increase  of  population  and  wealth,  be  brought  into  activity 


58  MAN    AND    LAND. 

with  the  same  quantity  of  labour  that  had  been  expended 
upon  it.  The  first  little  clearing  on  the  hill  side,  with  its 
miserable  cabin,  has  cost  a  thousand  days  of  labour,  whereas 
a  meadow  of  greater  extent  may  now  be  cleared,  and  a  gctod 
log-house  erected,  with  half  that  quantity.  If  the  first  settler 
desire  to  let  his  land  to  his  new  neighbour,  the  latter  will 
jjive  him — not  profits  plus  difference,  but — profits  minus  dif- 

"ference.  Daily  observation  shows  that  such  is  the  course  of 
proceeding,  and  that  land  obeys  the  same  lawrs  as  all  other 

/^commodities  and  things.  The  old  ship  cost  a  vast  amount 
of  labour,  but  she  can  carry  only  five  thousand  barrels  ; 
whereas  a  new  ship,  capable  of  carrying  ten  thousand  barrels, 
can  be  built  with  half  the  labour.  The  owner  of  the  first 
receives,  as  freight,  profits  minus  the  difference.  The  old 
house  cost  the  labour  of  ten  thousand  days,  but  it  will  accom- 
modate only  ten  persons.  A  new  one,  capable  of  affording 
better  accommodation  to  twenty,  can  be  produced  with  five 
thousand  days  of  labour.  The  owner  of  the  first  will  receive, 
as  rent,  profits  minus  the  difference.  And  so  is  it  with  early 
steam-engines,  railroads,  mills,  and  all  other  machines. 

>  The  price  of  land  is  more  or  less  in  proportion  to  the  rent 
that  is  paid.  If  the  doctrine  of  Mr.  Ricardo  is  true,  the  sell- 
ing price  should  be  the  capital  invested,  plus  the  value  of  the 
true  rent.  If,  on  the  contrary,  man  always  commences  with 
the  poor  soils,  and  proceeds  onward  towards  the  better  ones, 
the  price  should  be  the  capital,  minus  the  difference  between 
its  power  of  paying  rent  and  that  of  other  land  which  could 
Hoe  brought  into  cultivation  by  aid  of  the  same  capital.  If  his 
doctrine  is  true,  the  power  of  the  land  and  its  representative 
over  man,  increases  as  population  and  the  necessities  of  man 
increase :  but  if  it  is  not  true :  if  man  commences  always 
with  the  poor  soils,  and  proceeds  onwards  to  the  richer  ones  : 
then  must  the  power  of  man  over  land  and  its  representative 
always  increase ;  and  then  must  he  be  enabled  to  obtain,  at 
every  step,  land  of  equal  powers  with  diminished  labour ;  and 
then  must  those  heretofore  cultivated  tend  steadily  towards 


MAN    AND    LAND.  59 

diminution  in  their  labour  value.  That  such  is  the  fact,  we 
propose  now  to  show.  The  whole  land  rental  of  England 
and  Wales  is  about  thirty  millions,  which,  at  twenty-five 
years'  purchase,  represents  a  capital  of  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  millions.  The  wages  of  labourers  and  mechanics  average 
about  .£50  per  annum.  The  landed  property  of  England  and 
Wales  thus  represents  the  labour  of  fifteen  millions  of  men 
for  one  year,  or  that  of  half  a  million  of  men  for  thirty  years. 
Let  us  now  suppose  the  island  reduced  to  the  state  in  which 
it  was  found  by  Caesar ;  covered  with  impenetrable  woods,  (the 
timber  of  which  is  of  no  value  because  of  its  superabundance,) 
abounding  in  marshes  and  swamps,  and  heaths  and  sandy 
wastes;  and  then  estimate  the  quantity  of  labour  that  would 
be^required  to  place  it  in  its  present  position,  with  its  lands 
cleared,  levelled,  enclosed,  and  drained ;  with  its  turnpikes 
and  railroads,  its  churches,  school-houses,  colleges,  court- 
houses, and  market-houses ;  its  furnaces,  forges,  coal,  iron, 
and  copper  mines  ;  and  the  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
of  other  improvements  required  to  bring  into  activity  those 
powers  for  the  use  of  which  rent  is  paid,  and  it  will  be  found 
that  it  would  require  the  labour  of  treble  the  number  of  men 
for  centuries,  even  although  provided  with  all  the  machi- 
nery of  modern  times — the  best  axe  and  the  best  plough, 
the  steam-engine,  and  the  railroad  car.* 

The  same  thing  may  now  be  exhibited  on  a  smaller  scale.  A 
part  of  South  Lancashire,  the  forest  and  chase  of  Rossendale, 
embracing  an  area  of  twenty-four  square  miles,  contained 
eighty  souls  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century ;  and 
the  rental,  in  the  time  of  James  I.,  little  more  than  two  cen- 


*  «  Those  who  reflect  for  a  moment  on  the  many  hundreds,  or  rather  thou 
sands  of  millions,  that  have  been  expended  in  fencing,  draining,  manuring, 
and  otherwise  improving,  the  land  of  Great  Britain,  and  in  the  erection  of 
farm  buildings,  must  be  satisfied  that  the  return  for  this  capital,  though 
miserably  inadequate,  very  greatly  exceeds  the  other  portion  of  the  gross  rental 
of  the  kingdom." — McCulloch.  Such  being  the  case,  it  might  have  been  ob- 
vious that  all  rent  was  paid  for  the  use  of  these  improvements,  and  that  there 
really  was  no  other  portion  to  be  accounted  for. 


60  MAN    AND    LAND. 

turies  since,  amounted  to  .£122  13  8.  It  has  now  a  popula- 
tion of  eighty-one  thousand ;  and  the  annual  rental  is  .£50,000, 
equivalent,  at  twenty-five  years'  purchase,  to  £1, 250,000. 
We  have  never  seen  this  land,  but  we  have  no  hesitation  in 
saying  that  if  it  were  now  given  to  Baron  Rothschild,  in  the 
state  in  which  it  existed  in  the  days  of  James,  with  a  bounty 
equal  to  its  value  ;  on  condition  of  doing  with  the  timber 
the  same  that  has  been  done  with  that  which  then  stood  there, 
he  binding  himself  to  give  to  the  property  the  same  advan- 
tages as  those  for  which  rent  is  now  paid,  his  private  fortune 
would  be  expended  in  addition  to  the  bounty  long  before 
the  work  was  completed.  The  amount  received  as  rent 
is  profit  upon  capital,  and  is  interest  upon  the  amount  ex- 
pended, minus  the  difference  between  the  power  of  Rossen- 
dale  to  yield  a  return  to  labour,  and  that  of  the  newer  soils 
that  can  now  be  brought  into  activity  by  the  application  of 
the  same  labour  that  has  been  there  employed.  Such,  like- 
wise, is  the  case  with  the  rents  of  London  and  Paris,  New 
York  and  New  Orleans.  With  all  their  advantages  of  situa- 
tion, their  selling  prices  represent  but  a  small  portion  of 
what  it  would  cost  to  reproduce  them,  were  their  sites  again 
reduced  to  a  state  of  nature.  The  power  of  man  over  mere 
brute  wealth  thus  grows  with  every  increase  in  the  ratio  of 
wealth  to  population. 

There  is  not,  throughout  the  United  States,  a  county,  town- 
ship, town,  or  city,  that  would  sell  for  cost ;  or  one  whose  rents 
are  equal  to  the  interest  upon  the  labour  and  capital  ex- 
pended. 

Every  one  is  familiar  with  the  fact  that  farms  sell  for  little 
more  than  the  value  of  the  improvements.  When  we  come 
to  inquire  what  "  improvements"  are  included  in  this  esti- 
mate, we  find  that  the  heaviest  are  omitted ;  that  nothing  is 
put  down  for  clearing  and  draining  the  land,  for  the  roads 
that  have  been  made,  the  court-house  and  the  prison  that 
have  been  built,  with  the  taxes  that  have  been  annually  paid ; 
for  the  church  and  the  school-house  that  have  been  built 


MAN    AND    LAND.  61 

by  subscription ;  for  the  canal  that  passes  through  a  piece 
of  fine  meadow-land,  the  contribution  of  the  owner  to  the 
great  work;  or  for  a  thousand  other  conveniences  and  advan- 
tages that  give  value  to  the  property,  and  induce  men  to  feel 
willing  to  payment  for  its  use.  Were  all  these  things  esti- 
mated, it  would  be  found  that  the  price  is — cost,  minus  a 
large  difference. 

The  great  landholder  of  the  world  is  the  People  of  the 
United  States,  as  represented  by  their  Government.  He  ob- 
tains his  land  at  a  price  that  is  apparently  very  low,  yet  he 
would  be  ruined  were  it  not  for  his  exemption  from  contri- 
butions. Population  gradually  approaches  his  limits.  Canals 
and  roads  are  made  to  or  through  them.  By  degrees  a  por- 
tion acquires  the  small  value  of  $1-25,  the  minimum  price, 
per  acre.  Settlers  make  new  roads,  and  build  churches  and 
school-houses.  He  pays  no  taxes,  but  they  do.  Another 
section  reaches  the  minimum  price,  and  he  sells  it.  Popu- 
lation increases  more  rapidly,  and  more  roads  are  made, 
more  churches  and  school-houses  are  built,  but  still  he  pays 
no  taxes  for  these  purposes.  At  length  the  whole  is  sold  ; 
and  when  he  comes  to  foot  up  the  account,  he  finds  that  by 
omitting  many  of  the  heaviest  items  of  cost — those  attendant 
upon  affording  protection  to  the  settlers  until  they  were  able 
to  protect  themselves — a  small  profit  is  made  to  appear. 

'The  price  that  is  paid  for  land  represents  a  portion,  and 
often  a  very  small  portion,  of  its  cost.  Labour  is  frequently 
thrown  away  upon  it,  because  it  does  not  consist  of  the 
peculiar  kind  of  soil  that  is  needed  at  the  moment.  The 
settler  that  begins  with  clearing  swamps,  throws  away  his 
labour  and  dies  of  fever,  unless  he  prevent  that  occurrence 
by  running  away.  The  land  is  rich,  but  its  time  is  not  come. 
The  man  who  sinks  into  granite,  searching  for  coal,  throws 
away  his  labour.  The  land  will  be  valuable  when  granite 
quarries  come  to  be  wanted,  but  its  time  is  not  come.  The 
man  who  attempts  to  raise  marl  while  surrounded  by  rich 
meadow  land  yet  uncleared,  throws  away  his  time.  The 

6 


62  MAN    AND   LAND. 

land  is  rich,  but  its  time  is  not  come.  All  soils  have  quali- 
ties tending  to  render  them  useful  to  man,  and  all  are  destined 
to  come  into  activity ;  but  it  is  the  decree  of  nature  that  the 
best  soils — those  most  fitted  to  yield  a  large  return  to  labour — 
shall  be  obtained  for  his  use  only  at  the  price  of  labour ; 
and  their  attainment  is  the  reward  held  out  to  him  as  the 
inducement  to  steady  exertion,  prudence,  economy,  and  a 
constant  observance  of  the  great  law  of  Christianity,  which 
requires  that  every  man  shall  respect  in  others  those  rights  of 
person  and  property  that  he  desires  others  to  respect  in  him- 
self. Where  these  exist,  he  is  seen  passing  steadily  and 
regularly  from  poor  soils  to  those  which  are  more  productive ; 
and  with  every  step  there  is  an  increase  of  population,  wealth, 
prosperity,  and  happiness.  The  last  historian  of  the  world, 
prior  to  its  dissolution,  will  have,  we  doubt  not,  to  say  of  the 
soils,  as  Byron  said  of  the  skies  of  Italy : 

"  Parting  day 

Dies  like  the  dolphin,  whom  each  pang  imbues 
.     With  a  new  colour  as  it  gasps  away, 

The  last  still  loveliest,  till — 'tis  gone — and  all  is  gray." 

Rent  is  paid  for  the  use  of  the  improvements  which  labour 
"  has  accomplished  for,  or  on,  land,  and  which  constitute  items 
of  wealth.  Wealth  tends  to  augment  with  population,  and 
the  power  of  accumulating  further  wealth  increases  with  con- 
stantly accelerating  pace  as  new  soils  are  brought  into  cul- 
tivation, each  yielding  in  succession  a  larger  return  to  labour. 
Rent  tends,  therefore,  to  increase  in  amount  with  the  growth 
of  wealth  and  population.  It  is  greatest  in  England,  the 
wealthiest  country  of  Europe.  It  diminishes  as  we  pass 
thence  to  the  poorer  countries  of  France,  Germany,  Italy,  and 
Spain,  and  at  length  disappears  totally  among  the  Rocky 
Mountains  and  the  Islands  of  the  Pacific. 


The  fourth  proposition  is,  that  as  with  the  increase  of  popu- 
lation recourse  is  necessarily  had  to  poorer  soils,  yielding  a 


MAN    AND    LAND.  63 

less  return  to  labour,  the  proportion  of  the  land-owner  tends 
to  increase. 

If  cultivation  begins  with  the  rich  soils  and  proceedstothe 
poor  ones,  the  power  of  the  man  who  represents  land, 
over  its  products,  must  always  increase,  and  he  must  take  a 
larger  proportion,  attended  with  increasing  inequality  of  con- 
dition ;  but  if,  on  the  contrary,  it  always  begins  with  the 
poor  soils  and  proceedstothe  rich  ones,  then  must  the  power 
of  man  over  land  and  its  representative  always  increase, 
he  being  enabled  to  demand  a  constantly  increasing  propor- 
tion, leaving  to  the  representative  of  land  a  constantly  dimin- 
ishing one  ;  and  thus  with  each  step  in  the  progress  of  cul- 
tivation there  must  be  an  increasing  tendency  to  equality  of 
condition. 

It  was  observed,  half  a  century  since,  that  the  proportion 
of  the  landlord  was  decreasing.  Mr.  Malthus  admitted  the 
fact,  and  regarded  it  as  a  proof  that  there  was  increased 
difficulty  in  obtaining  food.  The  common  impression,  how- 
ever, was,  that  men  lived  better  than  in  olden  times ;  that 
now  they  had  meat  and  wheaten  bread,  and  sugar,  and  tea 
and  coffee ;  whereas,  in  times  long  past,  they  were  obliged 
to  be  contented  with  barley,  rye, and  acorn  bread.  To  prove 
that  this  was  not  the  fact,  Mr.  Malthus  asserted  that  whereas 
in  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  labourer  could 
have  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  pints  of  wheat  as  wages 
for  a  week,  he  then  [1810]  could  have  but  eighty  pints. 
Since  then  another  writer  has  gone  still  further,  and  has 
asserted  that  in  1495  he  could  have  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine  pints,  or  more  than  three  bushels,  for  that  amount  of 
labour. 

What  were  the  precise  annual  wages  of  a  labourer  at  that 
moment  we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining ;  but  the  change 
from  century  to  century  was  very  slow,  and  we  shall  not  err 
very  greatly  in  taking  those  of  the  last  years  of  the  previous 
one.  In  1389,  a  plough  driver  had  7s.,  and  a  carter  10s. 
per  annum,  without  clothing,  or  any  other  perquisite  ;  and  it 


64  MAN    AND   LAND. 

is  esteemed  doubtful  if,  in  addition  to  this,  he  had  his  own 
wretched  food.  On  an  average  of  years  these  wages  would 
command  not  more  than  a  quarter  of  wheat,  or  eight  bushels, 
and  yet  are  we  told  that  a  labourer  could  earn  three  bushels 
per  week  !  In  the  same  year,  four  hundred  and  fifty  days' 
'  labour  were  required  for  the  harvesting  of  the  produce  of  two 
hundred  acres  of  land ;  and  the  average  net  yield  was  about 
six  bushels  per  acre :  in  the  whole,  twelve  hundred  bushels, 
or  two  and  two-third  bushels  harvested  for  each  day's  work. 
The  week's  return,  at  same  rate,  would  be  sixteen  bushels, 
of  which  almost  exactly  one-fifth  is  allowed  as  the  wages  of 
every  week  in  the  year.  Of  the  people  who  worked  nearly 
all  were  employed  in  agriculture,  and  very  few  in  manufac- 
tures or  trade.  Had  all  been  so  employed,  with  precisely 
similar  returns  and  similar  wages,  it  would  follow  that  five 
weeks'  wages  would  be  equal  to  the  whole  annual  crop  ;  and 
such  statements  are  put  forth  gravely  by  writers  who  know 
that  at  that  very  period  the  land  and  its  representative  took 
two-thirds,  leaving  but  one-third  for  the  labourer.  The  har- 
vest labourer  of  the  present  day  receives  probably  one-fortieth 
of  the  quantity  harvested.  He  has  work  all  the  year,  and 
harvest  wages  do  not  differ  very  greatly  from  those  of  other 
days  ;  but  in  the  fifteenth  century  employment  during  the 
year  was  rare,  and  those  wages  constituted  an  important 
portion  of  the  year's  revenue ;  as  we  see  to  be  even  now  the 
case  with  the  labourers  of  Ireland.  Increased  wealth  facili- 
tates the  distribution  of  employment  throughout  all  seasons 
of  the  year,  and  thus  increases  greatly  the  productiveness  of 
labour.  / 

The  proportion  of  the  landlord  wras  supposed  by  Mr.  Mal- 
thus,  at  the  time  he  wrote,  to  be  about  one-fourth  of  the 
whole  product.  Recently  Mr.  McCulloch  has  reduced  it  to 
one-fifth  ;  although,  during  the  period  that  has  elapsed,  the 
quantity  of  labour  and  capital  applied  to  the  cultivation  of 
new  soils  has  been  prodigiously  great,  and  the  proportion 


MAN  AND    LAND.  65 

should  have  increased,  there  being  more  capital  to  draw  inte-     / 
rest,  plus  a  greater  difference. 

If  cultivation  does  always  commence  with  the  best  soils, 
and  man  is  compelled,  as  population  increases,  to  descend  to 
those  yielding  a  less  and  less  return  to  labour,  the  proportion 
of  the  landlord  must  increase.  He  must  take  profits,  plus  a 
constantly  increasing  difference  ;  and  he  must  ultimately  ab- 
sorb the  whole  product,  except  so  far  as  he  may  find  it  to  his 
interest  to  give  something  to  his  slave  to  keep  him  alive.  If, 
however,  cultivation  always  commences  on  the  poor  soils,  and 
man  proceeds,  as  population  and  wealth  increase,  always  to 
the  better  soils,  then  the  reverse  must  happen,  and  the  landlord 
must  have  profits  minus  the  difference,  giving  him  a  con- 
stantly decreasing  proportion,  and  leaving  to  the  labourer  a 
constantly  increasing  one.  In  the  one  case  the  power  of  the 
land  and  its  representative  over  the  product  must  increase, 
and  that  of  the  labourer  must  diminish.  In  the  other,  the 
power  of  the  labourer  must  rise,  and  that  of  the  land  must 
fall.  That  the  latter  does  fall,  is  proved  by  the  history  of 
every  nation  of  the  world.  The  English  landlord's  propor- 
tion, formerly  two-thirds,  or  more,  was,  in  the  days  of  Mr. 
Malthus,  one-fourth ;  in  those  of  Mr.  McCulloch,  one-fifth ; 
and  if  population  and  wealth  be  permitted  to  increase,  the 
day  is  not  far  distant  when  it  will  be  one-tenth,  or  less,  while 
the  amount  will  be  greater  than  now.  If  we  look  to  other 
parts  of  the  world,  we  shall  see  abundant  evidence  of  this. 
In  Prussia,  forty  years  since,  it  was  assumed  that  the  pea- 
sant who  retained  one-third  of  the  product  had  a  decent  sub- 
sistence. In  France,  where  population  and  wealth  grow 
very  slowly,  the  proportion  of  the  landlord  is  much  greater 
than  in  England,  and  probably  greater  than  in  Prussia.  In 
Spain  and  Sicily  it  is  greater  than  in  France.  In  Mexico  it 
is  greater  than  it  is  in  Sicily.  In  India,  greater  than  in 
Mexico.  In  all  these  countries  the  most  fertile  soils 
abound,  uncultivated ;  and  men  scratch  the  surface,  obtain- 
ing from  the  superior  soil  the  most  sorry  return  to  their  labour. 


r 


66  MAN   AND   LAND. 

Whenever  the  time  shall  come  when  the  rulers  of  their  desti- 
nies shall  permit  population  and  wealth  to  increase — and 
they  cannot  be  separated — the  more  fertile  soils  will  be  cul- 
tivated, the  return  to  labour  and  the  amount  of  rent  will 
both  be  increased,  and  the  landlord's  proportion  will  be 
diminished. 

In  the  time  of  the  Plantagenets,  the  owner  of  land  took  the 
whole  product,  and  gave  what  he  pleased  to  his  serf.  From 
that  day  to  the  present,  as  population  and  wealth  have  in- 
creased, the  labourer  has  obtained  a  constantly  increasing 
control  over  the  application  of  his  labour,  and  over  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  commodities  that  he  produces  ;  the  result  of 
which  is  that  the  labourer  of  England,  where  the  various 
soils,  superior  and  inferior,  are  cultivated  to  an  extent  else- 
where unknown,  receives  for  his  own  use  a  larger  proportion, 
and  thus  exercises  more  power  over  the  product  of  his  labour, 
than  the  labourer  of  any  other  portion  of  Europe.  At  no 
period  has  his  proportion  increased  so  rapidly  as  within  the 
present  century,  when  population  has  increased  at  a  rate 
before  unexampled ;  and  in  no  part  of  England  is  his  propor- 
tion so  great  as  in  that  in  which  population  has  most  rapidly 
increased;  yet  it  is  precisely  there  that  the  lower  soils 
have  been  to  the  greatest  extent  brought  into  cultivation. 
How  these  facts  are  to  be  reconciled  to  the  fashionable  doc- 
trine of  rent,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive.  Seeing  them,  it  is  not 
extraordinary  that  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  enthusiastic 
admirers  of  Mr.  Ricardo  should  have  found  occasion  recently 
to  reproach  him  with  having  furnished  no  explanation  of 
these  "  miracles."  The  real  «  miracle,"  however,  appears 
to  us  to  be  the  fact  that  such  a  doctrine  should  have  obtained 
so  extensively,  and  should  have  so  long  continued  to  obtain. 

Wealth  tends  to  grow  more  rapidly  than  population,  be- 
cause better  soils  are  brought  into  cultivation ;  and  it  does 
grow  more  rapidly,  whenever  people  abandon  swords  and 
muskets  and  take  to  spades  and  ploughs.  Every  increase 
in  the  ratio  of  wealth  to  population  is  attended  with  an  in- 


MAN   AND    LAND.  67 

crease  in  the  power  of  the  labourer  as  compared  with  that  , 
of  landed  or  other  capital.  We  all  see  that  when  ships  are_J 
more  abundant  than  passengers,  the  price  of  passage  is 
low — and  vice  versa.  When  ploughs  and  horses  are  more 
plenty  than  ploughmen,  the  latter  fix  the  wages,  but  when 
ploughmen  are  more  abundant  than  ploughs,  the  owners  of 
the  latter  determine  the  distribution  of  the  product  of  labour. 
When  wealth  increases  rapidly,  new  soils  are  brought  into 
cultivation,  and  more  ploughmen  are  wanted.  The  demand 
for  ploughs  produces  a  demand  for  more  men  to  mine  coal  and 
smelt  iron  ore,  and  the  iron-master  becomes  a  competitor  for 
the  employment  of  the  labourer,  who  obtains  a  larger  propor- 
tion of  the  constantly  increasing  return  to  labour.  He  wants 
clothes  in  greater  abundance,  and  the  manufacturer  becomes 
a  competitor  with  the  iron-master  and  the  farmer  for  his  ser- 
vices. His  proportion  is  again  increased,  and  he  wants 
sugar,  and  tea,  and  coffee,  and  now  the  ship-master  competes 
with  the  manufacturer,  the  iron-master  and  the  farmer :  and 
thus  with  the  growth  of  population  and  wealth  there  is  pro- 
duced a  constantly  increasing  demand  for  labour ;  and  its  in- 
creased productiveness,  and  the  consequently  increased  faci- 
lity of  accumulating  wealth  are  followed  necessarily  and 
certainly  by  an  increase  of  the  labourer's  proportion.  His 
wages  rise,  and  the  proportion  of  the  capitalist  falls,  yet  now 
the  latter  accumulates  fortune  more  rapidly  than  ever,  and 
thus  his  interest  and  that  of  the  labourer  are  in  perfect  har- 
mony with  each  other.  If  we  desire  evidence  of  this,  it  is 
shown  in  the  constantly  increasing  amount  of  the  rental  of 
England,  derived  from  the  appropriation  of  a  constantly  de- 
creasing proportion  of  the  product  of  the  land :  and  in  the 
enormous  amount  of  railroad  tolls  compared  with  those  of  the 
turnpike :  yet  the  railroad  transports  the  farmer's  wheat  to 
market,  and  brings  back  sugar  and  coffee,  taking  not  one- 
fourth  as  large  a  proportion  for  doing  the  business  as  was 
claimed  by  the  owner  of  the  wagon  and  horses,  and  him  of 
the  turnpike.  The  labourer's  product  is  increased,  and  the 


68  MAN    AND    LAND. 

proportion  that  goes  to  the  capitalist  is  decreased.  The 
power  of  the  first  over  the  product  of  his  labour  has  grown, 
while  that  of  the  latter  has  diminished. 

Nothing  is  more  frequent  than  references  to  those  "  good 
old  times,"  when  the  labourer  obtained  food  more  readily  than 
at  present,  but  no  idea  can  be  more  erroneous.  The  whole 
quantity  of  food  at  this  time  consumed  in  England  is  at  the 
lowest  estimate  sixty  times  as  great  as  in  the  days  of  Ed- 
ward III.,  while  the  population  is  but  little  more  than  six 
times  greater.  Divided  among  the  whole  people,  the  ave- 
rage per  head  would  be  ten  times  as  great,  in  quantity,  with- 
\  out  taking  into  account  the  difference  of  quality.  In  those 
days  of  barbarous  wassail,  the  waste  among  the  nobles  and 
their  followers  was  prodigiously  great.  In  our  day  economy 
prevails  everywhere,  arid  it  prevails  necessarily,  for  as  the 
standard  of  living  rises  with  the  increase  of  production,  the 
proportion  that  falls  to  the  land,  or  to  capital  in  any  other 
form,  tends  to  decrease.  Increase  of  wealth  tends  therefore 
to  beget  economy,  and  economy  begets  wealth  ;  and  the  more 
fertile  the  soil  cultivated  the  greater  will  be  the  power  of  the 
labourer,  and  the  greater  the  necessity  for  economy  on  the 
part  of  those  who  represent  landed  or  other  capital,  and  who 
do  not  themselves  work.  The  proportion  now  consumed  by 
the  wealthy  and  their  attendants — by  those  who  consume 
and  do  not  produce — is  very  small  compared  with  what  it 
was  in  those  "  good  old  times,"  and  therefore  the  proportion 
going  to  the  labourer  is  very  large,  while  the  quantity  to  be 
divided  is  so  greatly  increased.  The  great  mass  of  the  pre- 
sent large  product  goes  directly  to  the  tables  of  those  who 
work,  while  a  very  small  proportion  of  it  is  prepared  for 
the  tables  of  those  who  do  not  work,  and  even  of  that  a  large 
portion  is  eaten  at  last  by  people  whose  position  in  society 
renders  employment  desirable.  The  Queen  eats  less  in 
weight  than  the  man  who  mines  the  coal  that  is  used  in  her 
palace.  Lord  John  Russell  consumes  less  than  any  London 


MAN    AND    LAND.  69 

porter,  and  Sir  Robert  Peel  is,  we  doubt  not,  outdone  by 
most  of  his  servants. 

Of  the  mass  of  food  provided  for  the  people  of  Eng- 
land, nine-tenths  are  eaten  by  the  labouring  class.  If  any 
be  disposed  to  deny  that  this  view  is  correct,  let  them 
endeavour  to  satisfy  themselves  what  else  becomes  of  it. 
That  the  whole  is  eaten  is  certain.  That  the  class  who  do 
not  labour  is  small,  and  that  they  cannot  consume  much 
more,  per  head,  than  others,  are  equally  certain ;  and  if  so, 
it  must  be  obvious  that  the  proportion  which  their  consumption 
bears  to  the  quantity  consumed  must  be  very  small  indeed ; 
and  equally  so  that  what  they  do  not  eat  must  be  eaten  by 
the  great  class  who  do  labour. 

Such  is  likewise  the  case  with  clothing.  The  quantity"""! 
consumed  is  thousands  of  times  greater  than  it  was  at  the 
period  to  which  we  have  referred,  and  it  is  chiefly  consumed 
by  the  class  who  work.  Ladies  and  gentlemen  buy  more 
than  colliers  and  farm-labourers,  but  they  do  not  wear  out  as 
much.  They  change  frequently,  but  their  cast-off  clothes^J 
pass  from  hand  to  hand  and  are  worn  out  by  those  who 
work.  In  no  part  of  Europe  is  the  mass  of  rent,  or  of  pro- 
fits of  capital  employed  otherwise  than  on  land,  so  great  as 
there :  yet  in  none  do  the  people  who  pay  that  rent,  or  those 
profits — those  who  work — enjoy  so  large  an  amount  of  the 
conveniences,  comforts,  and  enjoyments  of  life.  In  none  is 
there  so  great  a  tendency  to  an  increase  of  the  labourer's 
proportion, — of  his  power  over  the  product  of  his  labour, — 
while  in  none  is  the  quantity  to  be  divided  so  great.  In 
none,  therefore,  is  there  so  great  a  tendency  to  elevation  and 
equality  of  physical,  moral,  intellectual  and  political  condi- 
tion, because  in  none  do  wealth  and  population  grow  so  ra- 
pidly, facilitating  the  cultivation  of  the  lower  and  more  produc- 
tive soils.  In  no  time  past  has  there  been  so  rapid  an  in- 
crease as  now.  Never  has  the  tendency  to  cultivate  those 
soils  been  so  great,  and  yet  never  has  the  product  of  labour 
increased  in  so  great  a  ratio :  and  never  has  the  proportion 


70  MAN    AND    LAND. 

of  the  landlord  so  rapidly  diminished.  Were  the  doctrine 
of  Mr.  Ricardo  true,  such  "  miracles"  could  not  happen. 
The  following  table  of  the  results  of  the  two  systems  may  be 
compared  by  the  reader  with  what  is  now  passing  before  his 
eyes,  and  he  may  then  determine  for  himself  which  is  most 
in  accordance  with  the  facts. 

HICARDO'S    DOCTRINE.*  OBSERVATION. 

Power  of    Power  of  Power  of    Power  of 


Land. 

Labour. 

Land. 

Labour. 

First  period 
Second     " 

100 
190 

10 

100 
180 

30 
70 

20 

42 

10 

28 

Third       « 

270 

30 

240 

120 

60 

60 

Fourth     " 

340 

60 

280 

180 

80 

100 

Fifth 

400 

100 

300 

250 

100 

150 

Sixth       « 

450 

150 

300 

330 

120 

210 

Seventh   " 

490 

210 

280 

420 

140 

280 

Eighth     « 
Ninth      " 

520 
540 

280 
360 

240 
180 

510 
620 

155 
170 

355 

450 

Tenth      « 

550 

450 

100 

740 

180 

560 

Eleventh  « 

550 

550 

00 

870 

190 

680 

The  fifth  proposition  is,  that  wealth  tends  to  counteract 
these  laws,  and  to  prevent  the  necessity  for  resorting  to  less 
productive  soils,  by  producing  improvements  in  cultivation. 
This  proposition  was  interpolated  by  Mr.  Ricardo  into  his 
system,  because  of  the  absolute  necessity  for  leaving  a  place 
of  escape  for  some  of  the  thousand  exceptions  to  his  laws  that 
presented  themselves  to  his  consideration,  and  its  presence 
there  is  a  direct  admission  of  the  unsoundness  of  his  whole 
doctrine. 

Wealth  should  grow,  according  to  Mr.  Ricardo,  most  rapidly 
when  and  where  land  is  most  abundant,  and  when  and 
where  the  best  soils  only  are  cultivated.  That  his  followers 
think  so,  is  obvious  from  the  fact  that  they,  one  and  all,  attri- 
bute the  rapid  growth  of  wealth  in  the  United  States  to  the 
abundance  of  land.  Improvements  of  cultivation  should, 
then,  be  most  rapid  where  land  is  most  abundant,  but  such 

*vSee  page  22. 


MAN    AND    LAND.  71 

has  not  been  the  case  in  England,  nor  is  it  now  in  any  coun- 
try of  Europe.  On  the  contrary,  wealth  grows  more  rapidly 
at  this  moment,  when  resort  is  daily  had  to  the  lower  and 
more  distant  soils,  than  it  has  done  in  any  time  past,  and  the 
only  manner  in  which  it  promotes  improvements  in  cultiva- 
tion is  in  facilitating  the  resort  to  those  soils.  The  plough 
enables  the  farmer  to  go  deep  into  the  lower  soil.  The 
spade  enables  him  to  reach  the  marl.  The  wagon  enables 
him  to  transport  it.  The  railroad  enables  him  to  bring  the 
coal  to  the  lime,  and  thus  facilitates  the  compounding  of  a 
new  soil :  and  with  each  new  one  thus  brought  into  activity 
the  produce  of  labour  and  the  growth  of  wealth  should  dimi- 
nish, and  therewith  we  ought  to  see  a  diminished  power  of 
effecting  such  improvements ;  yet  with  every  extension  of 
cultivation  the  power  of  man  over  the  various  soils  is  seen  to 
increase.  The  new  soils  are  better  than  the  old  ones,  or 
they  are  worse.  If  the  first,  Mr.  Ricardo's  theory  is  false. 
If  the  second,  then  with  every  soil  that  is  cultivated,  the  power 
of  accumulation  must  diminish,  and  as  population  still  goes 
on  to  increase,  the  necessity  for  applying  labour  with  dimi- 
nished return  must  go  on,  let  man  do  what  he  may  to  pre- 
vent it.  The  law  of  nature  in  regard  to  the  production  of 
food  can  no  more  be  arrested  than  that  in  relation  to  the 
gravitation  of  matter.  All  her  laws  are  simple  and  univer- 
sally true.  That  of  Mr.  Ricardo  is  complex  and  universally 
false.  Had  it  been  otherwise,  he  would  have  experienced  no 
necessity  for  providing  escape-valves  for  troublesome  facts. 


The  sixth  and  last  proposition  is,  that  every  such  improve- 
ment tends  to  retard  the  increase  of  rent,  while  every  obsta- 
cle to  improvement  tends  to  accelerate  that  increase ;  and 
that,  therefore,  the  interests  of  the  landlord  and  the  labourer 
are  always  in  opposition  to  each  other. 

If  men  commence  with  the  cultivation  of  the  most  fertile 


72  MAN    AND   LAND. 

soils,  and  if  with  the  progress  of  population  there  does  arise  a 
necessity  for  resorting  to  those  of  less  fertility,  yielding  a  con- 
stantly decreasing  return  to  labour,  such  must  be  the  case. 
The  slower  the  increase  in  the  supply  of  food,  the  more 
rapid  will  be  the  increase  in  the  power  of  the  owner  of  land 
in  cultivation,  and  the  greater  will  be  the  tendency  to  starva- 
tion and  disease  among  those  who  work.*  The  landlord  will 
take  a  constantly  increasing  proportion,  and  the  labourer  must 
eventually  become  his  slave,  thankful  to  be  allowed  to  live 
and  work,  even  although  compelled  to  live  on  acorn-bread. 
Mr.  Ricardo  has,  here,  carried  out  his  doctrine  to  its  legiti- 
mate results,  and  those  results  must  be  reached  at  some  fu- 
ture day,  if  his  theory  is  correct.  It  signifies  nothing  to  say 
that  the  downward  progress  may  be  arrested.  Man  must  be 
always  tending  in  that  direction,  and  there  must  he  arrive  at 
last :  even  if  it  be  a  thousand  years  hence. f  The  experience 
of  England  and  of  Europe  for  thousands  of  years  past,  and 
that  of  America  for  the  last  three  centuries,  would  lead  us  to 
opposite  conclusions,  but  Mr.  Ricardo  says  that  such  is  the 
law.  If  so,  when  is  it  to  begin  to  become  operative  ?  We 
know  of  no  other  of  the  natural  laws  thus  hung  up  in  ter- 
rorem  over  man :  none,  the  action  of  which  is  thus  sus- 
pended, in  order  that  it  may  at  some  future  time  fall  with 
a  force  increased  immeasurably  during  the  period  of  suspen- 
sion. Population  is  growing  daily,  and  with  great  rapidity, 
and  the  necessity  for  resorting  to  less  productive  soils  must 
be  increasing  with  every  hour  ;  yet  man  is  permitted  to  go  on 
to  increase  his  species,  in  blind  and  blissful  ignorance  of  the 
fact  that  his  children,  grandchildren,  or  great  grandchildren 


* "  How  slow  soever  the  increase  of  population,  provided  that  of  capital 
be  still  slower,  [believed  by  Mr.  Mill  to  be  the  case,]  wages  will  be  reduced  so 
low  that  a  portion  of  the  population  will  regularly  die  from  the  consequences 
of  want." — Mill. 

•j- "  From  the  operation  of  fixed  and  permanent  causes,  the  increasing  steri- 
lity of  the  soil  is  sure,  in  the  long  run,  to  overmatch  the  improvements  that 
occur  in  machinery  and  agriculture,  prices  experiencing  a  corresponding  rise, 
and  profits  a  corresponding  fall." — McCulloch. 


MAN   AND   LAND.  73 

must  inevitably  see  themselves  deprived  of  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence, while  owners  of  land  are  to  revel  in  abundance 
greater  than  ever  before  :  the  one  class  becoming  masters  and 
the  other  slaves. 

If,  on  the  contrary,  cultivation  commences  invariably  on  the 
poorer  soils  and  proceeds  to  the  better,  the  reverse  must  be 
the  case,  and  every  improvement  must  tend  to  accelerate  the 
growth  of  rent ;  and  every  obstacle  to  improvement,  be  it 
what  it  may,  must  tend  to  arrest  that  growth  ;  and  therefore 
must  the  interests  of  the  landlord  and  those  of  the  labourer 
be  in  perfect  harmony  with  each  other.  Improvement  of 
cultivation  results  from  the  increase  of  wealth.  The  more 
spades  and  ploughs,  and  the  better  their  quality,  the  larger 
is  the  return  to  labour,  and  the  greater  is  the  rent.  The 
more  horses  and  cattle,  the  larger  is  the  return  to  labour,  and 
the  greater  is  the  rent.  The  more  steam-engines,  the  easier  is 
the  work  of  drainage,  the  larger  is  the  return  to  labour,  and  the 
greater  is  the  rent.  The  more  mills,  the  easier  is  the  conver- 
sion of  the  grain  into  flour,  the  larger  is  the  return  to  labour, 
and  the  greater  is  the  rent.  The  more  factories,  the  less  is  the 
labour  required  to  procure  a  supply  of  clothing,  the  greater 
is  the  quantity  that  may  be  given  to  improving  the  land  by 
making  drains,  roads,  bridges  and  school-houses,  the  larger 
is  the  return  to  labour,  and  the  greater  is  the  rent.  The  in- 
terests of  the  landlord  would  seem  therefore  to  be  directly 
promoted  by  every  measure  that  tends  to  augment  the  wealth 
of  the  nation  and  to  aid  in  the  improvement  of  cultivation. 

How  stands  it  with  the  labourer  ?  He  sees  that  with  every 
increase  in  the  number  and  quality  of  spades  and  ploughs : 
of  engines  and  roads :  of  mills  and  factories  :  his  labour  be- 
comes more  productive.  Again,  he  sees  that  with  every  in- 
crease in  the  ratio  which  spades  and  ploughs,  engines  and 
mills,  bear  to  the  men  by  whom  they  are  to  be  employed,  he 
takes  a  larger  proportion ;  and  that  whereas,  when  the  land 
in  cultivation  yielded  a  net  product  of  six  bushels  to  the 
acre,  the  owner  took  half,  br  more,  leaving  him  three,  01  less  ; 


74  MAA    AND    LAND. 

now  when  it  yields  forty  bushels,  he  takes  but  one-fifth,  leav- 
ing him  thirty-two.  He  feels,  therefore,  at  every  instant  of 
his  progress,  that  his  interests  are,  like  those  of  the  landlord, 
directly  advanced  by  every  measure  tending  to  the  augmen- 
tation of  wealth,  and  to  the  promotion  of  improvements  in 
cultivation. 

Here  we  have  perfect  harmony  of  interests,  and  it  is  only 
necessary  that  the  two  parties  should  fully  understand  that 
it  exists,  to  have  all  unite  in  the  removal  of  restrictions  that 
tend  to  expel  capital  by  rendering  it  unproductive  ;  and  to 
expel  labour,  to  be  employed  elsewhere  less  productively 
than  it  might  be  employed  at  home,  if  aided  by  that  capital. 
This  understood,  kindness  and  good  feeling  would  take  the 
place  of  jealousy  and  discopd.  The  few  would  no  longer  be- 
lieve that  their  interests  were  to  be  promoted  by  the  waste  of 
wealth  on  large  fleets  and  armies  ;  and  the  many  would  cease 
to  feel  that  they  were  borne  down  by  taxes.  Wealth  would 
increase  more  rapidly,  as  would  the  power  of  production  and 
consumption.  Neighbouring  nations  would  be  unwilling  to 
lose  rich  customers,  and  equally  unwilling  to  be  deprived  of 
their  accustomed  supplies  of  commodities  needed  for  the 
gratification  of  their  wants,  and  would  carefully  avoid  all 
cause  of  hostility.  The  harmony  of  classes  would  thus  be- 
get the  harmony  of  nations.  The  love  of  peace  would  dif- 
fuse itself  throughout  the  earth.  All  would  become  satisfied 
that  in  the  laws  which  govern  the  relations  of  man  with  his 
fellow  man,  there  reigns  the  same  beautiful  simplicity  and 
harmony  everywhere  else  so  abundantly  evident :  all  by  de- 
grees would  learn  that  their  own  interests  would  be  best  pro- 
moted by  respecting  in  others  those  rights  of  person  and  pro- 
perty that  they  desired  to  have  respected  in  themselves  :  and 
all  become,  at  length,  satisfied  that  the  whole  of  the  so- 
called  Science  of  Political  Economy  is  embraced  in  the 
brief  words  of  the  great  founder  of  Christianity,  "  Do  unto 
ot^rs  as  ye  would  that  others  should  do  unto  you." 

Mr.  Ricardo's  system  is  one  of  discords.     Its  parts  do  not 


MAN    AND   LAND.  75 

agree  with  each  other,  and  its  whole  tends  to  the  production 
of  hostility  among  classes  and  nations.  '  He  professes  free 
trade,  while  teaching  that  the  monopoly  of  land  is  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  laws  of  nature.  He  professes  a  love  for 
freedom  of  action,  while  teaching  that  if  men  and  women 
will  unite  themselves  together  in  marriage,  thus  doing  that 
which  tends  most  to  stimulate  them  to  exertion  for  the  im- 
provement of  their  condition,  physical,  moral,  intellectual, 
and  political,  the  consequence  must  be  an  increasing  tendency 
to  starvation  :  and  thus  he  affords  countenance  to  the  thousand 
restrictions  by  which  marriage  is  prevented  and  profligacy 
promoted.  He  is  for  free  trade  in  corn,  but  he  teaches  the 
landlord  that  his  interests  will  be  injured  by  it.  He  is  for 
promoting  the  growth  of  wealth,  but  he  informs  the  landlord 
that  all  wealth  appropriated  to  the  improvement  of  culti- 
vation must  diminish  the  progress  of  rent.  He  would 
have  the  rights  of  property  respected,  while  teaching  the 
labourer  that  the  interests  of  the  land-owner  are  to  be 
promoted  by  every  measure  tending  to  produce  starvation 
and  misery ;  and  that  rent  is  paid  because  of  an  exercise  of 
power  on  the  part  of  the  few,  who  have  appropriated  to  them- 
selves that  which  a  beneficent  Deity  intended  for  the  com- 
mon good  of  all.  His  book  is  the  true  manual  of  the  dema- 
gogue, who  seeks  power  by  means  of  agrarianism,  war,  and 
plunder^  The  lessons  which  it  teaches  are  inconsistent  with 
those  afforded  by  the  study  of  all  well  observed  facts,  and 
inconsistent  even  with  themselves ;  and  the  sooner  they  shall 
come  to  be  discarded  the  better  will  it  be  for  the  interests  of 
landlord  and  tenant,  manufacturer  and  mechanic,  and  man- 
kind at  large. 

The  PAST  says  to  the  landlord  of  the  PRESENT  :  « Study 
economy,  private  and  public.  Give  your  mind  to  the  ma- 
nagement of  the  treasure  of  materials  placed  in  your  hands. 
Permit  wealth  to  grow,  and  your  rents  will  rise,  while  you 
will  be  surrounded  by  happy  and  prosperous  people.  You 
will  lose  in  power,  but  you  will  gain  in  happiness." 


v 


76  MAN    AND    LAND. 

To  the  labourer  it  says:  « Economize  your  time,  your  la- 
bour, and  their  proceeds.  Improve  your  mind.  Study  to 
promote  the  growth  of  wealth,  and  your  labour  will  become 
more  productive,  while  your  power  over  its  product  will 
increase,  and  you  will  experience  a  steady  improvement  in 
your  physical,  moral,  intellectual,  and  political  condition." 

To  all  it  says :  "  Respect  the  rights  of  your  neighbour,  as 
you  would  desire  that  he  should  respect  your  own."  To  all 
it  says:  "  I  have  sinned.  I  have  failed  to  respect  the  rights 
of  others,  and  I  have  suffered  heavily  in  consequence.  Take 
warning  by  my  example." 


MAN    AND   FOOD.  77 


CHAPTER  H. 

MAN    AND     FOOD. 


MAN  commences  by  cultivating  the  poor  soils.  He  works 
alone,  and  his  labour  is  unproductive.  As  his  numbers 
increase  he  is  enabled  to  combine  his  exertions  with  those 
of  his  fellow-men,  and  to  subdue  to  cultivation  the  better 
soils,  obtaining  a  constantly  increasing  return  to  his  labour; 
enabling  him,  while  consuming  more  and  better  food,  to 
accumulate  more  rapidly  the  machinery  required  to  facilitate 
his  further  progress. 

The  prevailing  doctrine  of  the  time  is  that  of  Mr.  Malthus,  ' 
who  teaches  — 

I.  That  population  tends  to  increase  with  great  rapidity. 

II.  That  the  tendency  to  increase  in  the  supply  of  food  is 
less  than  in  the  numbers  of  mankind. 

III.  That  with  every  step  in  the  progress  of  population 
there  is  a  tendency  to  starvation. 

IV.  That  improvements  in  cultivation  may  increase  pio- 
duction,  but  that  they  are  invariably  followed  by  a  still  more 
rapid  increase  of  population,  neutralizing  their  effect  by  com- 
pelling  a  resort  to  less  productive  soils. 

V.  That  the  remedies  provided  by  nature  for  preventing 
this  excess  of  population  over  food,  are  war,  pestilence,  fa- 
mine, vice,  and  misery,  to  be  avoided  only  by  the  exercise 
of  that  moral  restraint  which  shall  tend  to  diminish   the 
growth  of  the  numbers  of  mankind. 

The  time  may  arrive  when  the  world  will  be  so  fully  occu- 
pied that  there  will  not  be  even  standing  room,  but  we  may  ^ 
safely  leave  that  distant  future  to  the  benevolent  care  of  the 
Deity.     We  know  well  that  there  is  now,  and  always  has 
been,  an  abundance  of  unoccupied  land  ;  and  the  question  to 

7* 


78  MAN   AND    FOOD. 

be  settled  is :  What  are  the  phenomena  which  in  time  past 
have  attended  the  increase  of  mankind  up  to  the  present  point : 
with  a  view  to  determine  what  are  those  which  may  be  ex- 
pected to  mark  the  further  progress  of  our  race  towards  the  oc- 
cupation of  that  almost  infinite  extent  of  soil  capable  of  yielding 
food,  which  in  both  old  and  new  countries  yet  remains  un- 
occupied and  unproductive.  Mr.  Malthus  thought  he  saw 
that  they  were  such  as  indicated  «  a  constant  effort  in  the 
population  to  increase  beyond  the  means  of  subsistence,"  as 
constantly  tending  "  to  subject  the  lower  classes  of  society 
to  distress,  and  to  prevent  any  great  permanent  melioration 
of  their  condition;"  and  this  effort  appeared  to  him  quite 
as  obviously  to  exist  in  countries  in  which  the  population 
was  but  one  to  the  square  mile,  as  in  those  in  which  it 
amounted  to  a  hundred.  Of  course  his  theory  refers,  not  to 
the  state  of  things  which  may  be  supposed  to  arise  when  the 
whole  earth  shall  come  to  be  occupied,  but  to  that  which  now 
exists  and  has  existed  for  centuries  past.  In  support  of 
these  views  his  book  furnishes  an  infinite  number  of  small 
facts,  while  the  great  and  really  important  ones  are  totally 
overlooked.  His  work  throughout  wants  breadth.  His 
theory  is,  nevertheless,  perfectly  sound,  if  men  commence 
the  work  of  cultivation  with  the  rich  soils,  and  proceed  down- 
wards to  the  poor  ones.  If,  however,  they  always  com- 
mence with  the  thin,  dry  soils,  and  always  proceed  onward 
to  the  rich  ones,  then  the  reverse  thereof  must  be  true,  and 
food  must  tend  to  increase  faster  than  population,  permitting 
wealth  to  increase,  and  combination  of  action  to  arise  as  men 
are  enabled  to  live  in  closer  connection  with  each  other. 

The  first  cultivator  can  neither  roll  nor  raise  a  log,  with 
which  to  build  himself  a  house.  He  makes  himself  a  hole 
in  the  ground,  \vhich  serves  in  lieu  of  one.  He  cultivates 
the  poor  soil  of  the  hills  to  obtain  a  little  corn,  with  which 
to  eke  out  the  supply  of  food  derived  from  snaring  the  game 
in  his  neighbourhood.  His  winter's  supply  is  deposited  in 
another  hole,  liable  to  injury  from  the  water  which  filters 


MAN    AND    FOOD.  79 

through  the  light  soil  into  which  alone  he  can  penetrate.* 
He  is  in  hourly  danger  of  starvation.  At  length,  however, 
his  sons  grow  up.  They  combine  their  exertions  with  his, 
and  now  obtain  something  like  an  axe  and  a  spade.  They 
can  sink  deeper  into  the  soil;  and  can  cut  logs,  and  build 
something  like  a  house.  They  obtain  more  corn  and  more 
game,  and  they  can  preserve  it  better.  The  danger  of 
starvation  is  diminished.  Being  no  longer  forced  to  depend 
for  fuel  upon  the  decayed  wood  which  alone  their  father 
could  use,  they  are  in  less  danger  of  perishing  from  cold  in 
the  elevated  ground  which,  from  necessity,  they  occupy. 
With  the  growth  of  the  family  new  soils  are  cultivated,  each 
in  succession  yielding  a  larger  return  to  labour,  and  they 
obtain  a  constantly  increasing  supply  of  the  necessaries  of 
life  from  a  surface  diminishing  in  its  ratio  to  the  number  to 
be  fed;  and  thus  with  every  increase  in  the  return  to  their 
labour  the  power  of  combining  their  exertions  is  increased. 

If  we  look  now  to  the  solitary  settler  of  the  west,  even 
where  provided  with  both  axe  and  spade,  wre  shall  see  him 
obtaining,  with  extreme  difficulty,  the  commonest  log  hut. 
A  neighbour  arrives,  and  their  combined  efforts  produce  a 
new  house  with  less  than  half  the  labour  required  for  the 
first.  That  neighbour  brings  a  horse,  and  he  makes  some- 
thing like  a  cart.  The  product  of  their  labour  is  now  ten 
times  greater  than  was  that  of  the  first  man  working  by 
himself.  More  neighbours  come,  and  new  houses  are  wanted. 
A  «  bee"  is  made,  and  by  the  combined  effort  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood the  third  house  is  completed  in  a  day;  whereas  the 
first  cost  months,  and  the  second  weeks,  of  far  more  severe 
exertion.  These  new  neighbours  have  brought  ploughs  and 
horses,  and  now  better  soils  are  cultivated,  and  the  product 
of  labour  is  again  increased,  as  is  the  power  to  preserve  the 
surplus  for  winter's  use.  The  path  becomes  a  road.  Ex- 

*  The  cachet  of  the  savages  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  silos  of  the 
people  of  Castile,  are  instances  of  this  course  of  proceeding. 


80  MAN    AND    FOOD. 

changes  begin.  The  store  makes  its  appearance.  Labour 
is  rewarded  by  larger  returns,  because  aided  by  better  ma- 
chinery applied  to  better  soils.  The  town  grows  up.  Each 
successive  addition  to  the  population  brings  a  consumer  and 
a  producer.  The  shoemaker  wants  leather  and  corn  in  ex- 
change for  his  shoes.  The  blacksmith  requires  fuel  and  food, 
and  the  farmer  wants  shoes  for  his  horses ;  and  with  the 
increasing  facility  of  exchange  more  labour  is  applied  to 
production,  and  the  reward  of  labour  rises,  producing  new 
wants,  and  requiring  more  and  larger  exchanges.  The  road 
becomes  a  turnpike,  and  the  wagon  and  horses  are  seen 
upon  it.  The  town  becomes  a  city,  and  better  soils  are  cul- 
tivated .for  the  supply  of  its  markets,  while  the  railroad  facili- 
tates exchanges  with  towns  and  cities  more  distant.  The 
tendency  to  union  and  to  combination  of  exertion  thus  grows 
with  the  growth  of  wealth.  In  a  state  of  extreme  poverty  it 
cannot  be  developed.  The  insignificant  tribe  of  savages  that 
starves  on  the  product  of  the  upper  soil  of  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  land,  looks  with  jealous  eyes  on  every 
intruder,  knowing  that  each  new  mouth  requiring  to  be  fed 
tends  to  increase  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  subsistence  ; 
whereas  the  farmer  rejoices  in  the  arrival  of  the  blacksmith 
and  the  shoemaker,  because  they  come  to  eat  on  the  spot  the 
corn  which  heretofore  he  has  carried  ten,  twenty,  or  thirty 
miles  to  market,  to  exchange  for  shoes  for  himself  and  his 
horses.  With  each  new  consumer  of  his  products  that  arrives 
he  is  enabled  more  and  more  to  concentrate  his  action  and 
his  thoughts  upon  his  home,  while  each  new  arrival  tends  to 
increase  his  power  of  consuming  commodities  brought  from 
a  distance,  because  it  tends  to  diminish  his  necessity  for  seek- 
ing at  a  distance  a  market  for  the  produce  of  his  farm.  Give 
to  the  poor  tribe  spades,  and  the  knowledge  how  to  use  them, 
and  the  power  of  association  will  begin.  The  supply  of 
food  becoming  more  abundant,  they  hail  the  arrival  of  the 
stranger  who  brings  them  knives  and  clothing  to  be  ex- 


MAN   AND   FOOD.  81 

changed  for  skins  and  corn ;  wealth  grows,  and  the  habit  of 
association — the  first  step  towards  civilization — arises. 

The  little  tribe  is,  however,  compelled  to  occupy  the  high- 
land. The  lowlands  are  occupied  by  dense  forests  and 
dreary  swamps,  while  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  runs  a  river,  ford- 
able  but  for  a  certain  period  of  the  year.  On  the  hill  side, 
distant  a  few  miles,  is  another  tribe;  but  communication  be- 
tween them  is  difficult,  because,  the  river  bottom  being  yet 
uncleared,  roads  cannot  be  made,  and  bridges  are  as  yet 
unthought  of.  Population  and  wealth,  however,  continue  to 
increase,  and  the  lowlands  come  gradually  into  cultivation, 
yielding  a  larger  return  to  labour,  and  enabling  the  tribe  to 
obtain  larger  supplies  of  food  with  less  exertion,  and  to  spare 
labour  to  be  employed  for  other  purposes.  Roads  are  made 
in  the  direction  of  the  river  bank.  Population  increases 
more  rapidly  because  of  the  increased  supplies  of  food  and 
the  increased  power  of  preserving  it,  and  wealth  grows  still 
more  rapidly.  The  river  bank  at  length  is  reached,  and 
some  of  the  best  lands  are  now  cleared.  Population  grows 
again,  and  a  new  element  of  wealth  is  seen  in  the  form  of  a 
bridge,  and  now  the  two  little  communities  are  enabled  to 
communicate  more  freely  with  each  other.  One  rejoices  in 
the  possession  of  a  wheelwright,  while  the  other  has  a  wind- 
mill. One  wants  carts,  and  the  other  has  corn  to  grind.  One 
has  hides  to  spare,  while  the  other  has  more  shoes  than  are 
required  for  their  use.  Exchanges  increase,  and  the  little 
towns  grow  because  of  the  increased  amount  of  trade.  Wealth 
grows  still  more  rapidly,  because  of  new  modes  of  combining 
labour,  by  wyhich  that  of  all  is  rendered  more  productive. 
Roads  are  now  made  in  the  direction  of  other  communi- 
ties ;  and  the  work  is  performed  more  rapidly,  because  the 
exertions  of  the  two  are  now  combined,  and  because  the 
machinery  used  is  more  efficient.  One  after  another  disap- 
pear forests  and  swamps  that  have  occupied  the  fertile 
lands,  separating  ten,  twenty,  fifty,  or  five  hundred  commu- 
nities, which  now  are  brought  into  connection  with  each 


82  MAN    AND   FOOD. 

other;  and  with  each  step  labour  becomes  more  and  more 
productive,  and  is  rewarded  with  better  food,  clothing,  and 
shelter.  Famine  and  disease  disappear ;  life  is  prolonged  ; 
population  is  increased,  and  therewith  the  tendency  to  that 
combination  of  exertion  among  the  individuals  composing 
these  communities,  which  is  the  distinguishing  characteristic 
of  civilization  in  all  periods  of  the  world,  and  in  all  nations. 
With  further  increase  of  population  and  wealth,  the  desires  of 
man,  and  his  ability  to  gratify  them,  both  increase.  The 
nation,  thus  formed,  has  more  corn  than  it  wants ;  but  it  has 
no  cotton,  and  its  supply  of  wool  is  insufficient.  The  neigh- 
bouring nation  has  cotton  and  wool,  and  wants  com.  They 
are  still  divided,  however,  by  broad  forests,  deep  swamps, 
arid  rapid  rivers.  Population  increases,  and  the  great  forests 
and  swamps  disappear,  giving  place  to  rich  farms,  through 
which  broad  roads  are  made,  with  immense  bridges,  which 
enable  the  merchant  to  transport  his  wool  and  his  cotton  to 
exchange  with  his  now  rich  neighbours  for  their  surplus 
corn  or  clothing.  Nations  now  combine  their  exertions,  and 
wealth  grows  with  still  increased  rapidity,  facilitating  the 
drainage  of  marshes  and  thus  bringing  into  activity  the  richest 
soils ;  while  coal  mines  cheaply  furnish  the  fuel  for  converting 
limestone  into  lime,  and  iron  ore  into  axes  and  spades,  and 
into  rails  for  the  new  roads  that  are  needed  to  transport  to 
market  the  vast  products  of  the  fertile  soils  now  in  use,  and 
to  bring  back  the  large  supplies  of  clothing,  sugar,  tea,  coffee, 
and  the  thousand  other  products  of  distant  lands  with  which 
intercourse  now  exists.  At  each  step  population  and  wealth, 
and  happiness  and  prosperity,  take  a  new  bound;  and  men 
realize  with  difficulty  the  fact  that  the  country  which  now 
affords  to  tens  of  millions  all  the  necessaries,  comforts,  con- 
veniences, and  luxuries  of  life,  is  the  same  that,  when  the 
superabundant  land  was  occupied  by  tens  of  thousands  only, 
gave  to  that  limited  number  scanty  supplies  of  the  worst  food  : 
so  scanty  that  famines  were  frequent  and  sometimes  so  se- 
vere that  starvation  was  followed  in  its  wake  by  pestilence, 


MAN    AND    FOOD.  83 

which,  at  brief  intervals,  swept  from  the  earth  the  population 
of  the  little  and  scattered  settlements,  among  which  the 
people  were  forced  to  divide  themselves  when  they  cultivated 
only  the  poor  soils  of  the  hills. 

Such  is  the  course  of  events,  when  man  is  allowed  to  fol- 
low the  bent  of  his  inclinations,  which,  however,  he  rarely  is. 
When  men  are  poor,  they  are  compelled  to  select  such  soils 
as  they  can  cultivate,  not  such  as  they  would.  Although 
gathered  around  the  sides  of  the  same  mountain  range,  they 
are  far  distant  from  each  other.  They  have  no  roads,  and 
they  are  unable  to  associate  for  self-defence.  The  thin  soils 
yield  small  returns,  and  the  little  tribe  embraces  some  who 
would  prefer  to  live  by  the  labour  of  others  rather  than 
by  their  own.  The  scattered  people  may  be  plundered 
with  ease,  and  half  a  dozen  men,  combined  for  the  pur- 
pose, may  rob  in  succession  all  the  members  of  the  little 
community.  The  opportunity  makes  the  robber.  The  bold- 
est and  most  determined  becomes  the  leader  of  the  gang. 
One  by  one,  the  people  who  use  spades  are  plundered  b'y 
those  who  carry  swords,  and  who  pass  their  leisure  in  dissi- 
pation. The  leader  divides  the  spoil,  taking  the  largest 
share  himself,  with  which,  as  the  community  increases,  he 
hires  more  followers.  He  levies  black  mail  on  those  who 
work,  taking  such  portion  as  suits  his  good  pleasure.  With 
the  gradual  increase  of  the  little  community,  he  commutes 
with  them  for  a  certain  share  of  their  produce,  which  he  calls 
rent,  or  tax,  or  faille.  Population  and  wealth  grow  very 
slowly,  because  of  the  large  proportion  which  the  non-la- 
bourers bear  to  the  labourers.  The  good  soils  are  very 
slowly  improved,  because  the  people  are  unable  to  obtain 
axes  or  spades  with  which  to  work,  or  to  make  roads  into 
the  dense  forests.  Few  want  leather,  and  there  is  no  tanner 
on  the  spot  to  use  their  hides.  Few  can  afford  shoes,  and 
there  is  no  shoemaker  to  eat  their  corn  while  making  the  few 
that  can  be  bought.  Few  have  horses,  and  there  is  no  black- 
smith. ComHnation  of  effort  has  scarcely  an  existence.  By 


84  MAN    AND    FOOD. 

very  slow  degrees,  however,  they  are  enabled  to  reduce  to 
cultivation  better  lands,  and  to  lessen  the  distance  between 
themselves  and  the  neighbouring  settlement,  where  rules  an- 
other little  sovereign.     Each  chief,  however,  now  covets  the 
power  of  taxing,  or  collecting  rents  from  the  subjects  of  his 
neighbour.     War  ensues.     Each  seeks  plunder,   and  calls 
it   "  glory."     Each  invades  the  domain  of  the  other,   and 
each  endeavours  to  weaken  his  opponent  by  murdering  his 
rent-payers,  burning  their  houses,  and  wasting  their  little 
farms,  while  manifesting  the  utmost  courtesy  to  the  chief 
himself.     The  tenants  fly  to  the  hills  for  safety,  being  there 
more  distant  from  the  invaders.     Rank  weeds  grow  up  in  the 
rich  lands  thus  abandoned,  and  the  drains  fill  up.     At  the 
end  of  a  year  or  two,  peace  is  made,  and  the  work  of  clear- 
ing is  again  to  be  commenced.     Population  and  wealth  have, 
however,  diminished,  and  the  means  of  recommencing  the 
work  have  again  to  be  created.     Meanwhile  the  best  lands 
are  covered  with  shrubs,  and  the  best  meadows  are  under 
water.     With  continued  peace,  the  work,  however,  advances, 
and  after  a  few  years,  population  and  wealth,  and  cultiva- 
tion, attain  the  same  height  as  before.     New  wars  ensue,  for 
the  determination  of  the  question  which  of  the  two  chiefs 
shall  collect  all  the — so-called — rent.     After  great  waste  of 
life  and  property,  one  of  them  is  killed,  and  the  other  falls 
his  heir,  having  thus  acquired  both  glory  and  plunder.     He 
now  wants  a  title,  by  which  to  be  distinguished  from  those 
by  whom  he  is  surrounded.     He  is  a  little  king.     Similar 
operations  are  performed  elsewhere,  and  kings  become  nu- 
merous.    By  degrees,  population  extends  itself,  and  each  lit- 
tle king  covets  the  dominions  of  his  neighbours.     Wars  ensue 
on  a  somewhat  larger  scale,  and  always  with  the  same  re- 
sults.    The  people  invariably  fly  to  the  hills  for  safety.     As 
invariably,  the  best  lands  are  abandoned.     Food  becomes 
scarce,  and  famine  and  pestilence  sweep  off  those  whose 
flight  had  saved  them  from  the  swords  of  the  invader.     Small 
kings  become  greater   ones,   surrounded   by  lesser   chiefs 


MAN    AND    FOOD.  85 

who  glorify  themselves  in  the  number  of  their  murders,  and 
in  the  amount  of  plunder  they  have  acquired.  Counts,  vis- 
counts, earls,  marquises,  and  dukes,  now  make  their  appear- 
ance on  the  stage,  heirs  of  the  power  and  of  the  rights  of 
the  robber  chiefs  of  early  days.  Population  and  wealth  go 
backward,  and  the  love  of  title  grows  with  the  growth  of  bar- 
barism.* Wars  are  now  made  on  a  larger  scale,  and  greater 
"  glory"  is  acquired.  In  the  midst  of  distant  and  highly  fer- 
tile lands  occupied  by  a  numerous  population,  are  rich  cities 
and  towns  offering  a  copious  harvest  of  plunder.  The  citizens, 
unused  to  arms,  may  be  robbed  with  impunity,  always  an 
important  consideration  to  those  with  whom  the  pursuit  of 
"glory"  is  a  trade.  Provinces  are  laid  waste,  and  the 
population  is  exterminated,  or  if  a  few  escape,  they  fly  to 
the  hills  and  mountains,  there  to  perish  of  famine.  Peace 
follows,  after  years  of  destruction,  but  the  rich  lands  are 
overgrown :  the  spades  and  axes,  the  cattle  and  the  sheep 
are  gone :  the  houses  are  destroyed :  their  owners  have 
ceased  to  exist :  and  a  long  period  of  abstinence  from  the 
work  of  desolation  is  required  to  regain  the  point  from  which 
cultivation  had  been  driven  by  men  intent  upon  the  gratifi- 
cation of  their  own  selfish  desires,  at  the  cost  of  the  welfare 
and  happiness  of  the  people  over  whose  destinies  they  have 
unhappily  ruled.  Population  grows  slowly,  and  wealth  but 
little  more  rapidly,  for  almost  ceaseless  wars  have  impaired  the 
disposition  and  the  respect  for  honest  labour,  while  the  neces- 

*  It  is  amusing  to  trace  with  each  step  in  the  progress  of  the  decay  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  the  gradual  increase  in  the  magnificence  of  titles :  and  so  again 
with  the  decline  of  modern  Italy.  In  France,  titles  became  almost  universal  as 
the  wars  of  religion  barbarized  the  people.  The  high-sounding  titles  of  the  East 
are  in  keeping  with  the  weakness  of  those  by  whom  they  are  assumed,  as  are 
the  endless  names  of  the  Spanish  grandee  with  the  poverty  of  the  soil  culti- 
vated by  his  dependents.  The  lime  isfast  approaching  when  men  of  real  dig- 
nity will  reject  the  whole  system  as  an  absurdity,  and  when  small  men  alone 
will  think  themselves  elevated  by  the  title  of  Esquire,  Honourable,  Baron, 
Marquis,  or  Duke.  Extremes  always  meet.  The  son  of  the  duke  rejoices  in 
the  possession  of  half  a  dozen  Christian  names,  and  the  little  retailer  of  tea 
and  sugar  calls  his  daughter  Amanda  Malvina  Fitzallan — Smith,  or  Pratt: 
while  the  gentleman  calls  his  son  Robert,  or  John. 

8 


86  MAN   AND    FOOD. 

sity  for  beginning  once  more  the  work  of  cultivation  on  the 
poor  soils,  adds  to  the  distaste  for  work,  while  it  limits  the 
power  of  employing  labourers.  Swords  or  muskets  are  held 
to  be  more  honourable  implements  than  spades  and  pickaxes. 
The  habit  of  union  for  any  honest  purpose  is  almost  ex- 
tinct, while  thousands  are  ready,  at  any  moment,  to  join  in 
expeditions  in  search  of  plunder.  War  thus  feeds  itself  by 
producing  poverty,  depopulation,  and  the  abandonment  of 
the  most  fertile  soils  ;  while  peace  also  feeds  itself,  by  increas- 
ing the  number  of  men  and  the  habit  of  union,  because  of 
the  constantly  increasing  power  to  draw  supplies  of  food 
from  the  surface  already  occupied,  as  the  almost  boundless 
powers  of  the  earth  are  developed  in  the  progress  of  popula- 
tion and  wealth. 

These  views  are  not  in  accordance  with  the  doctrine  of 
Mr.  Malthus,  yet  look  where  we  may,  we  shall  find  confir- 
mation of  their  truth.  If  to  India,  we  may  see  the  rich  soil 
relapsing  into  jungle,  while  its  late  occupant  starves  among 
the  forts  of  the  hills.  If  to  other  parts  of  Asia,  we  may  see 
abandoned  the  rich  countries  on  the  banks  of  the  Tigris,  and 
of  the  Euphrates,  while  poor  and  barren  Persia  is  still  cul- 
tivated. If  to  Egypt,  we  may  trace  with  its  advance  the 
gradual  descent  of  population  towards  the  Nile,  bringing  into 
activity  the  rich  lands  of  the  Delta :  and  with  its  decline,  the 
abandonment  of  those  lands,  the  filling  up  of  the  canals,  and 
the  concentration  of  the  population  on  the  higher  and  less 
productive  lands.  If  to  Italy,  we  see  a  growing  people 
subduing  to  cultivation  the  rich  lands  of  the  Campagna 
and  of  Latium,  to  be  again  gradually  abandoned,  and  now 
affording  miserable  subsistence  to  men,  many  of  whom 
go  clothed  in  skins  of  beasts,  and  whose  number  scarcely 
exceeds  that  of  the  cities  that  once  there  flourished.  If  we 
pass  farther  north,  we  may  see  the  rich  lands  of  the  Sien- 
nese  republic  in  cultivation  until  the  sixteenth  century, 
when  the  ferocious  Marignan  drove  to  the  hills  the  small  rem- 
nant of  the  population  that  escaped  the  sword,  and  gave  to 


MAN    AND    FOOD.  87 

the  world  a  pestilential  desert,  in  lieu  of  the  highly  culti- 
vated farms  which  before  abounded.  Still  further  north, 
may  be  seen  the  destruction  of  the  canals  of  Pisa  and  the 
abandonment  of  its  fertile  soils,  while  its  late  inhabitants 
perish  by  pestilence  within  the  city  walls,  or  transfer  them- 
selves to  the  head  of  the  Arno,  to  seek  there  the  subsist- 
ence no  longer  afforded  by  the  richer  lands  near  its  mouth. 
In  France,  we  may  see  the  perpetual  ravage  of  the  rich 
lands  of  the  south  by  the  ferocious  tribes  of  the  north,  from 
the  days  of  Clovis  down  to  the  period  of  the  revocation  of 
the  Edict  of  Nantes,  and  at  every  fresh  invasion,  the  people 
are  seen  flying  to  the  hills  and  mountains  for  safety.  In 
the  days  of  the  English  wars,  we  may  see  the  lower  and 
richer  countries  ravaged  by  bands  of  fierce  mountaineers  :  the 
wild  Breton,  the  ferocious  Gascon,  and  the  mercenary  Swiss  : 
united  for  the  plunder  of  the  men  who  cultivated  the  more 
fertile  soils,  and  driving  them  to  seek  refuge  in  the  wild  and 
savage  Brittany  itself.  We  may  see  the  lands  of  the  richer 
soils  rendered  utterly  desolate :  la  Beauce,  one  of  the  most 
fertile  parts  of  the  kingdom,  become  again  a  forest :  while 
from  Picardy  to  the  Rhine  not  a  house,  unprotected  by  city 
walls,  is  left  standing,  nor  a  farm  that  is  not  stripped.  In 
later  times  we  see  Lorraine  reduced  to  a  desert :  and  fine 
forests  but  recently  stood,  if  even  now  they  have  ceased  to 
stand,  where  formerly  the  rich  soil  yielded  liberal  returns  to 
labour.  Throughout  France  are  seen  the  effects  of  per-_J 
petual  war,  in  the  concentration  of  the  whole  agricultural 
population  in  filthy  villages,  at  a  distance  from  the  lands  they 
cultivate :  there  inhaling  a  foul  atmosphere,  and  losing  half 
their  time  in  transferring  themselves,  their  rough  implements, 
and  their  products,  to  and  from  their  little  properties,  where- 
as, the  same  labour  bestowed  upon  the  land  itself  would  give 
to  cultivation  the  richer  soils. 

If  we  trace  the  external  history  of  that  country,  we  see 
hosts  of  gentlemen  followed  by  bands  of  savage  Bretons, 
G  xscons,  and  Swiss :  all,  noble  and  gentle,  equally  greedy 


00  MAN    AND    FOOD. 

and  rapacious  :  engaged  for  successive  centuries  in  the  work 
of  plundering  and  exterminating  their  neighbours,  whose 
wealth  enabled  them  to  cultivate  the  fertile  soils :  the  people 
of  the  Netherlands  and  Germany  :  of  Italy  and  of  Catalonia : 
and  compelling  them  to  abandon  their  rich  fields  and  to  seek 
refuge  within  the  walls  of  cities,  there  to  die  of  famine  and 
pestilence.  War  is  thus,  everywhere,  the  trade  of  the  bar- 
barian who  cultivates  the  poor  soils  and  looks  with  greedy 
eyes  upon  the  wealth  of  other  men,  whose  honest  industry 
and  exertion  have  enabled  them  to  bring  into  cultivation  the 
better  soils,  with  a  constantly  increasing  return  to  labour. 

If  next,  we  desire  to  see  the  countries  in  which  men  cul- 
tivate the  poorest  soils,  we  must  turn  to  those  in  which  con- 
stant wars  and  oppression  have  most  prevented  the  growth 
of  wealth  and  population :  to  India  and  Sicily :  and  there  we 
shall  find  the  habit  of  combined  exertion  least  existing.  If 
we  cross  the  Atlantic,  and  look  to  Mexico,  we  may  see  the 
fertile  valley  that  surrounds  the  city,  and  that  once  afforded 
food  for  a  vast  population,  now  in  a  state  of  desolation  : 
its  canals  choked  up,  and  its  cultivation  abandoned ;  while 
from  the  poorer  lands  that  border  the  valley,  strings  of  mules 
bring  from  a  distance  of  fifty  miles  loads  of  provisions  to 
supply  the  wants  of  the  city.  For  a  specimen  of  the  next 
class,  we  must  turn  to  France,  whose  population  requires 
for  its  duplication  above  a  century ;  and  whose  labourer 
uses  poor  machinery  that  enables  him  to  penetrate  but  little 
into  the  upper  soil,  leaving  the  more  fertile  soils  beneath  and 
around  him  for  some  future  race  that  shall  have  learned 
that  real  glory  and  grandeur  are  not  to  be  attained  by  end- 
less wars.*  If  now  we  seek  the  countries  in  which  the  re- 
ward of  the  labourer  most  rapidly  advances,  we  must  turn 
first  to  Prussia,  that  has,  since  1763,  with  the  exception 
of  the  few  years  that  followed  the  battle  of  Jena,  enjoyed 
the  blessings  of  peace :  and  there  we  shall  find  population 

*  "  La  Gloire  est  le  Dieu  de  la  France," — M.  de  Beaumont. 


MAN    AND   FOOD.  89 

and  the  habit  of  union  advancing  with  a  rapidity  unknown 
to  the  rest  of  continental  Europe.  Next,  we  must  look  to  Eng- 
land, where  we  shall  find  vast  wealth,  the  growth  of  internal 
peace,  and  a  population  increasing  in  numbers  with  a  force 
constantly  accelerated  as  the  accumulation  of  that  wealth 
has  enabled  them  to  bring  into  activity  the  better  soils.  In 
the  days  of  the  Edwards,  it  numbered  two  millions  and  a 
half.  In  1700,  it  but  little  exceeded  five  millions.  The  in- 
crease was  small,  and  the  improvement  of  the  condition  of 
the  people  was  slow.  In  the  first  seventy  years  of  the  past 
century,  the  increase  was  forty  per  cent.  In  the  follow- 
ing thirty  years,  it  exceeded  twenty-five  per  cent.  Popu- 
lation increased  rapidly,  and  with  it  grew  wealth  and  the 
power  and  habit  of  union,  and  cultivation  was  extended, 
with  a  rapid  increase  in  the  return  to  labour.  It  is  now 
doubling  itself  in  forty-six  years,  thus  proceeding  with  acce- 
lerated force,  and  with  its  increase  we  see  more  fertile  soils 
coming  into  cultivation,  and  affording  larger  returns :  giving 
increased  wages  to  the  labourer  and  larger  reward  to  the  ca- 
pitalist than  is  obtained  in  any  other  part  of  Europe.  With 
every  step  in  this  progress,  we  see  an  increase  in  the  habit 
of  combined  exertion :  and  an  increased  tendency  towards 
union,  personal,  political,  and  economical :  perpetually  re- 
pressed, however,  by  the  waste  consequent  upon  frequent  wars 
produced  by  an  anxiety  for  "  ships,  commerce  and  colonies." 
The  jealousy  of  the  Scot  and  the  Saxon  has  passed  away. 
The  Welshman  and  the  Englishman,  the  Highlander  and  the 
man  of  the  lowlands,  have  long  since  ceased  to  view  each 
other  with  dislike :  and  the  Cornishman  and  the  Yorkshire- 
man  have  learned  at  length  to  speak  the  same  language. 
Lastly,  we  turn  to  the  United  States,  which,  during  more  than 
two  centuries  from  the  first  landing  of  the  Pilgrims,  never 
were  engaged  in  war  but  when  forced  thereto  in  self-de- 
fence, and  whose  history  presents  a  course  of  peaceful  ac- 
tion unparalleled  in  the  world.  From  a  few  poor  and  scat- 
tered settlers,  occupying  the  poor  lands  along  the  Atlan- 

8* 


90  MAN   AND    FOOD. 

tic  coast,  between  whom  communication  was  almost  im- 
possible, even  if  desired:  and  scarcely  desired  because 
of  differences  in  their  origin,  and  in  their  ideas  of  reli- 
gious and  political  government :  they  have  grown  to  a  na- 
tion of  more  than  twenty  millions,  in  whom  the  habit  of 
union  exists  to  an  extent  elsewhere  deemed  inexplicable  :*  a 
consequence  of  the  rapid  growth  of  wealth,  the  fruit  of  peace 
and  honest  industry.  Beginning  necessarily  with  the  poor- 
est soils,  they  were  widely  separated  from  each  other.  Had 
they,  like  their  neighbours  of  Canada,  been  perpetually  en- 
gaged in  war,  they  would  have  remained  poor  and  scattered  ; 
but  they  worked  while  the  others  sought  alliances  with  the 
Indians,  and  prosecuted  the  work  of  conquest.  Few  in  num- 
ber, and  poor,  they  still  cultivated  poor  soils,  when  Eng- 
land was  already  the  wealthiest  nation  of  the  world,  and  had 
the  power  to  bring  into  activity  the  best  soils,if  she  would :  but 
England  preferred  a  war  of  twenty  years  attended  with  in- 
calculable waste  of  life  and  treasure,  the  result  of  which  is 
that  she  stands  now  but  second  in  point  of  wealth. 

Look  where  we  may,  we  shall  find  similar  results.  If  we 
desire  to  see  men  in  a  state  of  high  prosperity,  wre  must  turn 
to  those  countries  and  to  those  periods  in  which  their  num- 
bers grow.  In  Italy  we  shall  find  it  in  the.  days  of  Ser- 
vius,  before  Rome  undertook  the  mission  of  plundering  the 
world  and  exterminating  the  free  population,  to  be  replaced 
by  slaves.  In  Tuscany  we  shall  meet  it  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  before  French  princes  and  nobles  had  learned  to 
interfere  in  their  affairs,  expelling  the  most  useful  of  her 
citizens,  and  introducing  a  habit  of  war :  to  result  in  building 
up  the  colossal  fortune  of  Cosmo  de'  Medici,  derived  chiefly 
from  the  profit  of  loans  to  the  state  for  purposes  of  war,  at 
enormous  interest  paid  out  of  the  proceeds  of  taxes  on 
provisions,  and  collected  at  the  gates  of  the  city  by  his  own 


*  «  That  tenacious  spirit  of  unity  which  has  hitherto  so  singularly  character- 
ized them." — Edinburgh  Review. 


MAN    AND    FOOh.  91 

clerks.  In  Athens  it  will  be  found  in  the  days  of  Solon  and 
the  Pisistratidae,  before  the  depopulation  and  poverty  pro- 
duced by  Persian  armies  gave  power  to  men  like  Cimon 
and  Pericles  :  men  who  saw  in  the  expenditure  of  enormous 
taxes  for  the  support  of  ruinous  wars,  the  means  of  acquiring 
that  distinction  which  otherwise  they  could  never  have  ob- 
tained. In  Egypt,  in  the  days  of  the  Ptolemies,  before  pro- 
consuls drew  from  the  impoverished  inhabitants  the  means  of 
maintaining  their  canals,  to  be  applied  to  the  support  of  the 
profligate  and  worthless  people  of  Rome.  In  Spain,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Guadalquiver,  before  the  fortune  of  war  had  given 
power  to  Isabella  and  her  successors  to  plunder  and  extermi- 
nate the  industrious  and  prosperous  Moors.  In  all  these  cases, 
increasing  wrealth  gave  man  the  power  to  cultivate  the  better 
soils.  If,  now,  we  desire  to  see  man  in  poverty  and  distress, 
a  prey  to  famine  and  pestilence,  we  must  turn  to  those  pe- 
riods in  which  population  decreases ;  and  be  they  where  they 
may,  we  shall  be  sure  to  find  the  object  of  our  search.  War 
diminishes  population,  but  it  destroys  wealth.  The  farmer 
may  live  to  return  to  his  fields;  but  his  house  is  burned,  his 
crops  are  carried  off,  his  cattle  have  been  killed  and  eaten, 
and  his  plough  and  his  harrow  broken  up;  and  he  returns  to 
the  city  a  beggar,  to  die  of  famine  :  for  his  neighbours  are 
like  himself.  Their  property  is  gone,  and  they  have  no 
means  of  employing  him,  even  as  a  labourer.  Everywhere 
poverty  goes  in  advance  of  depopulation,  wrhile  everywhere 
increasing  wealth  goes  far  in  advance  of  increasing  numbers. 
Such  being  the  case,  we  may  well  doubt  if  war,  which 
forces  man  to  abandon  the  best  soils  and  seek  the  poorer 
ones,  be  really  the  panacea  furnished  by  the  Deity  for  re- 
straining population  within  the  limits  of  food.  It  would  rather 
seem  to  be  one  of  the  weak  "  inventions"  of  man,  for  coun- 
teracting the  great  law  of  nature  which  prescribes  that  if  men 
will  live  well  they  must  labour,  and  thus  provide  themselves 
with  the  machinery  necessary  for  the  development  of  the  pro- 
ductive powers  of  the  earth :  powers  so  wonderfully  great 


92  MAN   AXD    FOOD. 

that  it  would  oe  absurd,  with  our  present  limited  knowledge, 
to  attempt  a  definition  of  their  extent.  The  use  of  those 
powers,  with  increased  return  to  labour,  is  the  reward  offered  to 
man  for  good  conduct — for  the  full  observance  of  the  great  law 
of  Christ :  and  in  every  country  he  profits  by  their  use  in 
the  precise  ratio  of  his  obedience. 

Mr.  Malthus  recommends  "  moral  restraint."  Where  shall 
it  be  found  ?  Certainly  not  among  the  Esquimaux,  where  every 
woman  is  ready  to  prostitute  herself  for  a  nail,  or  a  bead, — nor 
among  the  savages  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  or  those  of  the 
islands  of  the  Pacific, — nor  any  where,  where  population  does 
not  grow.  It  prevails  to  a  certain  extent  in  France,  in  whose 
great  city,  according  to  M.  Dupin,  it  is  only  every  third  child 
that  is  a  bastard  ;  but  it  prevails  more  in  Prussia,  where  la- 
bour is  better  rewarded,  and  men  marry  more  freely ;  still 
more  in  England,  where  matrimony  is  still  more  common ; 
and  most  in  America,  where  everybody  marries.  In  all 
countries  population  increases  nearly  in  the  ratio  of  mo- 
rality ;  but  where  marriage  is  deemed  a  luxury,*  bastards 
will  abound,  and  foundling  hospitals  will  be  needed. f  The 
remedy  of  Mr.  Malthus  would  thus  appear  to  produce  the  dis- 
ease for  the  cure  of  which  it  was  intended,  and  to  stimulate 
instead  of  repressing,  population. 

Population  asks  only  to  be  let  alone,  and  it  will  take  car 
of  itself.     Without  its  growth  the  power  of  union  cannot 
arise,  nor  the.  love  of  harmony  and  of  peace,  essential  to  the 

*  «  The  temptation  is  great  to  show  that  the  poor  have  no  more  right  than 
the  rich  to  indulge  in  luxuries  which  they  cannot  afford,  and  that  it  is  decidedly 
immoral  to  bring  children  into  the  world  to  starve." — Thornton  on  Over- 
population. 

-f  In  1809,  the  number  of  foundlings  in  France  was  69,000.  Since  the 
measure  of  1811,  (ordering  a  foundling  hospital  to  be  established  in  each  arron- 
dissement,)  it  has  advanced  to  84,500,  in  1815;  to  102,100,  in  1820;  to 
119,900,  in  1825;  to  125,000,  in  1830;  and  since  then  it  has  advanced  with 
a  still  more  remarkable  acceleration.  (In  1833,  it  had  risen  to  129,629.) 
At  Paris,  the  proportion  of  foundlings  to  births  was  as  one  to  ten ;  it  is  now 
little  less  than  one  to  four.  *  *  *  The  expense  has  advanced  in  a  pa- 
rallel proportion  to  the  numbers.  It  amounts  to  1 1,500,000  francs  per  annum; 
the  Paris  institution  alone  costing,  some  years  since,  1,731,239  francs. 


MAN    AND    FOOD.  93 

promotion  of  the  growth  of  wealth  and  to  the  cultivation  of 
the  best  soils,  without  which  the  return  to  labour  cannot  be 
large.  With  its  growth  production  increases,  and  the  la- 
bourer is  enabled  to  take  as  his  reward  a  larger  proportion, 
thus  producing  a  tendency  to  equality  of  condition.  The 
people  have  everywhere  loved  peace,  for  such  were  its  fruits. 
TJieir  masters  have  everywhere  loved  war,  because  it  tended 
to  the  maintenance  of  inequality ;  yet  if  they  had  been  go- 
verned by  the  sense  of  an  enlightened  self-interest,  they 
would  have  seen  that  the  injury  to  themselves  was  as  great 
as  was  that  experienced  by  the  labourers  and  mechanics  by 
whom  they  were  surrounded. 

The  PAST  says  to  the  sovereigns  of  the  PRESENT:  "Avoid 
war!  It  diminishes  population  and  wealth,  and  union,  and 
it  tends  to  reduce  nations  into  tribes.  Its  apparent  grandeur 
is  real  littleness.  It  destroys  the  power  of  self-protection,  in 
which  consists  real  greatness." 

To  the  representatives  of  land  it  says:  "  Avoid  war! 
It  destroys  population  and  wealth,  and  the  value  of  land  is 
dependent  upon  the  growth  of  both." 

To  the  labourer  it  says:  "Avoid  war !  It  destroys  wealth 
more  rapidly  than  population.  It  diminishes  your  power 
over  the  product  of  your  labour,  and  it  tends  to  increase  the 
existing  inequality  of  condition." 


94  WEALTH. 


CHAPTER  III. 

WEALTH. 

THE  first  cultivator  commences  his  operations  on  the  hill- 
side. Below  him  are  lands  upon  which  have  been  carried, 
by  force  of  water,  the  richer  portions  of  those  above,  as 
well  as  the  leaves  of  trees,  and  the  fallen  trees  themselves  ; 
all  of  which  have  there,  from  time  immemorial,  rotted  and 
become  incorporated  with  the  earth,  and  thus  have  been  pro- 
duced soils  fitted  to  yield  the  largest  returns  to  labour :  yet 
for  this  reason  are  they  inaccessible.  Their  character  ex- 
hibits itself  in  the  enormous  trees  with  which  they  are  covered, 
and  in  their  power  of  retaining  the  water  necessary  to  aid 
the  process  of  decomposition  ;  but  the  poor  settler  wants  the 
power  either  to  clear  them  of  their  timber,  or  to  drain  them 
of  the  superfluous  moisture.  He  begins  on  the  hill-side, 
but  at  the  next  step  we  find  him  descending  the  hill,  and 
obtaining  larger  returns  to  labour.  He  has  more  food  for 
himself,  and  he  has  now  the  means  of  feeding  a  horse  or  an 
ox.  Aided  by  the  manure  that  is  thus  yielded  to  him  by 
the  better  lands,  we  see  him  next  retracing  his  steps,  improv- 
ing the  hill-side,  and  compelling  it  to  yield  a  return  double 
that  which  he  at  first  obtained.  With  each  step  down  the 
hill,  he  obtains  still  larger  reward  for  his  labour,  and  at  each 
he  returns,  with  increased  power,  to  the  cultivation  of  the 
original  poor  soil.  He  has  now  horses  and  oxen,  and  while, 
by  their  aid,  he  extracts  from  the  new  soils  the  manure  that 
had  accumulated  for  ages,  he  has  also  carts  and  wagons  to 
carry  it  up  the  hill :  and  at  each  step  his  reward  is  increased, 
while  his  labours  are  lessened.  He  goes  back  to  the  sand 


WEALTH.  95 

and  raises  the  marl,  with  which  he  covers  the  surface  ; 
or  he  returns  to  the  clay  and  sinks  into  the  limestone,  by 
aid  of  which  he  doubles  its  product.  He  is  all  the  time 
making  a  machine  which  feeds  him  while  he  makes  it,  and 
which  increases  in  its  powers  the  more  he  takes  from  it.  At 
first  it  was  worthless.  It  has  fed  and  clothed  him  for  years, 
and  now  it  has  a  large  value,  and  those  who  might  desire  to 
use  it  would  pay  him  a  large  rent. 

The  earth  is  a  great  machine,  given  to  man  to  be  fashion- 
ed to  his  purpose.  The  more  he  fashions  it,  the  better  it 
feeds  him,  because  each  step  is  but  preparatory  to  a  new 
one  more  productive  than  the  last ;  requiring  less  labour 
and  yielding  larger  return.  The  labour  of  clearing  is  great, 
yet  the  return  is  small.  The  earth  is  covered  with  stumps, 
and  filled  with  roots.  With  each  year  the  roots  decay,  and 
the  ground  becomes  enriched,  while  the  labour  of  ploughing 
is  diminished.  At  length,  the  stumps  disappear,  and  the 
return  is  doubled,  while  the  labour  is  less  by  one-half  than 
at  first.  To  forward  this  process  the  owner  "has  done  nothing 
but  crop  the  ground  :  nature  having  done  the  rest.  The  aid  he 
thus  obtains  from  her  yields  him  as  much  food  as  in  the  out- 
set was  obtained  by  the  labour  of  felling  and  destroying  the 
trees.  This,  however,  is  not  all.  The  surplus  thus  yielded 
has  given  him  means  for  improving  the  poorer  lands,  by 
furnishing  manure  with  which  to  enrich  them  ;  and  thus  he 
has  trebled  his  original  return  without  further  labour :  for 
that  which  he  saves  in  working  the  new  soils  suffices  to  carry 
the  manure  to  the  old  ones.  He  is  obtaining  a  daily  in- 
creased power  over  the  various  'treasures  of  the  earth. 

With  every  operation  connected  with  the  fashioning  of  the 
earth,  the  result  is  the  same.  The  first  step  is,  invariably, 
the  most  costly  one,  and  the  least  productive.  The  first 
drain  commences  near  the  stream,  where  the  labour  is  hea- 
viest. It  frees  from  water  but  a  few  acres.  A  little  higher,  the 
same  quantity  of  labour,  profiting  by  what  has  been  already 
done,  frees  twice  the  number.  Again  the  number  is  doubled, 


96  WEALTH. 

and  now  the  most  perfect  system  of  thorough  drainage  may 
be  established  with  less  labour  than  was  at  first  required  for 
one  of  the  most  imperfect  kind.  To  bring  the  lime  into  con- 
nection with  the  clay,  upon  fifty  acres,  is  lighter  labour  than 
wTas  the  clearing  of  a  single  one,  yet  the  process  doubles 
the  return  for  each  acre  of  the  fifty.  The  man  who  wants  a 
little  fuel  for  his  own  use,  expends  much  labour  in  opening 
the  neighbouring  vein  of  coal.  To  enlarge  this,  so  as  to 
double  the  product,  is  a  work  of  comparatively  small  la- 
bour ;  as  is  the  next  enlargement,  by  which  he  is  enabled 
to  use  a  drift- wagon,  giving  him  a  return  fifty  times  greater 
than  was  obtained  when  he  used  only  his  arms,  or  a  wheel- 
barrow. To  sink  a  shaft  to  the  first  vein  below  the  surface, 
and  erect  a  steam-engine,  are  expensive  operations;  but 
these  once  accomplished,  every  future  step  becomes  more 
productive,  while  less  costly.  To  sink  to  the  next  vein 
below,  and  to  tunnel  to  another,  are  trifles  in  comparison 
with  the  first,  yet  each  furnishes  a  return  equally  large. 
The  first  line  of  railroad  runs  by  houses  and  towns  occupied 
by  fifty  or  a  hundred  thousand  persons.  Half  a  dozen  little 
branches,  costing  together  far  less  labour  than  the  first, 
bring  into  connection  with  it  three  hundred  thousand,  or 
perhaps  half  a  million.  The  trade  increases,  and  a  second 
track,  a  third,  or  a  fourth,  may  be  required.  The  original 
one  facilitates  the  passage  of  the  materials  and  the  removal 
of  obstructions,  and  three  new  ones  may  now  be  made  with 
less  labour  than  was  required  for  the  first. 

All  labour  thus  expended  in  fashioning  the  great  machine 
is  but  the  prelude  to  the  application  of  further  labour,  with 
still  increased  returns.  With  each  such  application,  wages 
rise,  and  hence  it  is  that  portions  of  the  machine,  as  it  exists, 
invariably  exchange,  when  brought  to  market,  for  far  less 
labour  than  they  have  cost.  The  man  who  cultivated  the 
thin  soils  was  happy  to  obtain  a  hundred  bushels  for  his 
year's  work.  With  the  progress  of  himself  and  his  neigh- 
bour down  the  hill  into  the  more  fertile  soils,  wages  have 


WEALTH.  97 

risen,  and  two  hundred  bushels  are  now  required.  His  farm 
will  yield  a  thousand  bushels ;  but  it  requires  the  labour 
of  four  men,  who  must  have  two  hundred  bushels  each,  and 
the  surplus  is  but  two  hundred  bushels.  At  twenty  years 
purchase  this  gives  a  capital  of  four  thousand  bushels,  or  the 
equivalent  of  twenty  years'  wages  ;  whereas  it  has  cost,  in 
the  labour  of  himself,  his  sons,  and  his  assistants,  the  equiva- 
lent of  a  hundred  years  of  labour,  or  perhaps  far  more. 
During  all  this  time,  however,  it  has  fed  and  clothed  them 
all,  and  the  farm  has  been  produced  by  the  insensible  contri- 
butions made  from  year  to  year,  unthought  of  and  unfelt.* 

It  is  now  worth  twenty  years'  wages,  because  its  owner 
has  for  years  taken  from  it  a  thousand  bushels  annually; 
but  when  it  had  lain  for  centuries  accumulating  wealth,  it 
was  worth  nothing.  Such  is  the  case  with  the  earth  every- 
where. The  more  that  is  taken  from  it  the  more  there  is 
left.  When  the  coal  mines  of  England  were  untouched, 
they  were  valueless.  Now  their  value  is  almost  countless  ; 
yet  the  land  contains  abundant  supplies  for  thousands  of 
years.  Iron  ore,  a  century  since,  was  a  drug,  and  leases 

*  It  will  be  observed  that  we  consider  the  owner  and  farmer  always  as  one 
and  the  same  person,  and  it  is  when  they  are  so  that  this  operation  is  the 
most  complete,  and  yet  the  most  insensible.  Such  it  is  in  the  United  States. 
All  who  write  of  land,  in  England,  talk  of  the  expenditure  of  capital  on  land. 
Land  asks  no  such  expenditure.  It  gives  capital,  when  properly  treated.  In 
that  country,  the  tenant  starves  it  that  he  may  gather  up  the  rent,  and  if  the 
landlord  permits  a  small  portion  of  its  gifts  to  go  back  to  the  great  producer,  he 
considers  himself  as  having  given  it  something,  for  which  it  is  his  debtor.  Had 
the  tenant  been  the  owner  of  the  ill-treated  machine,  he  would  have  given  it 
twice  as  much,  making  no  charge;  but,  on  the  contrary,  crediting  it  with 
the  portion  that  he  retained  for  his  own  consumption.  When  English  land- 
lords talk  of  spending  five  and  ten  pounds  per  acre,  it  sounds  very  grand  ;  but 
as  in  all  other  cases,  the  real  grandeur  is  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  that  which  is 
apparent.  The  man  who  cultivates  his  own  land,  puts  on  twice  as  much  ; 
but,  he  does  it  from  year  to  year,  insensibly,  and  the  land  is  rendered  twice  as 
productive  by  the  one  operation  as  by  the  other.  Nature  performs  all  her 
operations  slowly  and  gently,  but  steadily,  and  the  nearer  that  man  approaches 
her,  the  more  nearly  is  he  right.  The  man  who  improves  his  own  land 
works  with  a  long  lever,  and  little  power  is  required ;  whereas,  the  landlord 
works  with  a  short  lever,  and  greater  power  is  needed  to  produce  smaller 
effect. 

9 


98  WEALTH. 

were  granted  at  almost  nominal  rents.  Now,  such  leases 
are  deemed  equivalent  to  the  possession  of  large  fortunes,  not- 
withstanding the  great  quantities  that  have  been  removed, 
although  the  amount  of  ore  now  known  to  exist  is  probably 
fi£v  times  greater  than  it  was  then. 

The  earth  is  the  sole  producer.  Man  fashions  and  ex- 
changes. A  part  of  his  labour  is  applied  to  the  fashioning 
of  the  great  machine,  and  this  produces  changes  that  are 
permanent.  The  drain,  once  cut,  remains  a  drain ;  and  the 
limestone,  once  reduced  to  lime,  never  again  becomes  lime- 
stone. It  passes  into .  the  food  of  man  and  animals,  and 
ever  after  takes  its  part  in  the  same  round  with  the  clay  with 
which  it  has  been  incorporated.  The  iron  rusts,  and  gradu- 
ally passes  into  soil,  to  take  its  part  with  the  clay  and  the 
lime.  That  portion  of  his  labour  gives  him  wages  while  pre- 
paring the  machine  for  greater  future  production.  That  other 
portion  which  he  expends  on  fashioning  and  exchanging  the 
products  of  the  machine,  produces  temporary  results,  and 
gives  him  wages  alone.  Whatever  tends,  therefore,  to  dimin- 
ish the  quantity  of  labour  necessary  for  the  fashioning  and 
exchanging  of  the  products,  tends  to  increase  the  quantity 
that  may  be  given  to  increasing  the  amount  of  products,  and 
to  preparing  the  great  machine  ;  and  thus,  while  increasing 
the  present  return  to  labour,  preparing  for  a  future  further 
increase. 

The  first  poor  cultivator  obtains  a  hundred  bushels  for 
his  year's  wages.  To  pound  this  between  two  stones  requires 
twenty  days  of  labour,  and  the  work  is  not  half  done.  Had 
he  a  mill  in  the  neighbourhood  he  would  have  better  flour, 
and  he  would  have  almost  his  whole  twenty  days  to  bestow 
upon  his  land.  He  pulls  up  his  grain.  Had  he  a  scythe,  he 
would  have  more  time  for  the  preparation  of  the  machine 
of  production.  He  loses  his  axe,  and  it  requires  days  of 
himself  and  his  horse  on  the  road,  to  obtain  another.  His 
machine  loses  the  time  and  the  manure,  both  of  which  would 

ave  been  saved  had  the  axe-maker  been  at  hand.     The  real 


WEALTH.  99 

advantage  derived  from  the  mill  and  the  scythe,  and  from  the 
proximity  of  the  axe-maker,  consists  simply  in  the  power 
which  they  afford  him  to  devote  his  labour  more  aad  more 
to  the  preparation  of  the  great  machine  of  production,  and 
such  is  the  case  with  all  the  machinery  of  preparation  and 
exchange.  The  plough  enables  him  to  do  as  much  in  one 
day  as  with  a  spade  he  could  do  in  five.  He  saves  four  days 
for  drainage.  The  steam-engine  drains  as  much  as  without 
it  could  be  drained  by  thousands  of  days  of  labour.  He 
has  more  leisure  to  marl  and  lime  his  land.  The  more  he 
can  extract  from  his  machine  the  greater  is  its  value,  because 
every  thing  he  takes  is,  by  the  very  act  of  taking  it, 
fashioned  to  aid  further  production.  The  machine,  there- 
fore, improves  by  use ;  whereas  spades,  and  ploughs,  and 
steam-engines,  and  all  other  of  the  machines  used  by  man, 
are  but  the  various  forms  into  which  he  fashions  parts  of  the 
great  original  machine,  to  disappear  in  the  act  of  being 
used ;  as  much  so  as  food,  though  not  so  rapidly.  The 
earth  is  the  great  labour  savings'  bank ;  and  the  value  to  man 
of  all  other  machines  is  in  the  direct  ratio  of  their  tendency 
to  aid  him  in  increasing  his  deposits  in  the  only  bank  whose 
dividends  are  perpetually  increasing,  while  its  capital  is  per- 
petually doubling.  That  it  may  continue  for  ever  so  to  do, 
all  that  it  asks  is  that  it  shall  receive  back  the  refuse  of  its 
produce :  the  manure :  and  that  it  may  do  so,  the  consumer 
and  the  producer  must  take  their  places  by  each  other.  That 
done,  every  change  that  is  effected  becomes  permanent,  and 
tends  to  facilitate  other  and  greater  changes.  The  whole 
business  of  the  farmer  consists  in  making  and  improving  soils, 
and  the  earth  rewards  him  for  his  kindness  by  giving  him 
more  and  more  food  the  more  attention  he  bestows  upon  her. 
The  solitary  settler  has  to  occupy  the  spots  that,  with  his 
rude  machinery,  he  can  cultivate.  Having  neither  horse  nor 
cart,  he  carries  home  his  crop  upon  his  shoulders,  as  is  now 
done  in  many  parts  of  India.  He  carries  a  hide  to  the  place  of 
exchange,  distant,  perhaps,  fifty  miles,  to  obtain  for  it  leather, 


100  WEALTH. 

or  shoes.  Population  increases,  and  roads  are  made.  More 
fertile  soils  are  cultivated.  The  store  and  the  mill  come 
nearer  to  him,  and  he  obtains  shoes  and  flour  with  the  use 
of  less  machinery  of  exchange.  He  has  more  leisure  for 
the  preparation  of  his  great  machine,  and  the  returns  to  la- 
bour increase.  More  people  now  obtain  food  from  the  same 
surface,  and  new  places  of  exchange  appear.  The  wool  is, 
on  the  spot,  converted  into  cloth,  and  he  exchanges  directly 
with  the  clothier.  The  saw-mill  is  at  hand,  and  he  exchanges 
with  the  sawyer.  The  tanner  gives  him  leather  for  his  hides, 
and  the  paper-maker  gives  him  paper  for  his  rags.  With 
each  of  these  changes  he  has  more  and  more  of  both  time 
and  manure  to  devote  to  the  preparation  of  the  great  food- 
making  machine,  and  with  each  year  the  returns  are  larger. 
His  power  to  command  the  use  of  the  machinery  of  exchange 
increases,  but  his  necessity  therefor  diminishes ;  for  with  each 
year  there  is  an  increasing  tendency  towards  having  the  con- 
sumer placed  side  by  side  with  the  producer;  and  with  each 
he  can  devote  more  and  more  of  his  time  and  mind  to  the 
business  of  fashioning  the  great  instrument ;  and  thus  the 
increase  of  consuming  population  is  essential  to  the  progress 
of  production. 

The  loss  from  the  use  of  machinery  of  exchange  is  in  the 
ratio  of  the  bulk  of  the  article  to  be  exchanged.  Food  stands 
first ;  fuel,  next ;  stone  for  building,  third ;  iron,  fourth ; 
cotton,  fifth ;  and  so  on ;  diminishing  until  we  come  to  laces 
and  nutmegs.  The  raw  material  is  that  in  the  production  ot 
which  the  earth  has  most  co-operated,  and  by  the  production 
of  which  the  land  is  most  improved;  and  the  nearer  the  place' 
of  exchange  or  conversion  can  be  brought  to  the  place  oi 
production,  the  less  is  the  loss  in  the  process,  and  the  greater 
the  power  of  accumulating  wealth  for  the  production  of  further 
wealth. 

The  man  who  raises  food  on  his  own  land  is  building  up 
the  machine  for  doing  so  to  more  advantage  in  the  following 
year.  His  neighbour,  to  whom  it  is  given,  on  condition  of 


WEALTH.  101 

sitting  still,  loses  a  year's  work  on  his  machine,  and  all  he 
has  gained  is  the  pleasure  of  doing  nothing.  If  he  has  em- 
ployed himself  and  his  horses  and  wagon  in  bringing  it 
home,  the  same  number  of  days  that  would  have  been  required 
for  raising  it,  he  has  misemployed  his  time,  for  his  farm  is 
unimproved.  He  has  wasted  labour  and  manure.  As  no- 
body, however,  gives,  it  is  obvious  that  the  man  who  has  a 
farm  and  obtains  his  food  elsewhere,  must  pay  for  raising  it, 
and  pay  also  for  transporting  it;  and  that  although  he  may 
have  obtained  as  good  wages  in  some  other  p'ur$i(i$J  bis  farm, 
instead  of  having  been  improved  by  a  year's  ^cultivatjpn,,  is 
worse  by  a  year's  neglect;  and  that  he  is -a  poorer  iji^n  thajt 
he  would  have  been  had  he  raised  his  own  food. 

The  article  of  next  greatest  bulk  is  fuel.  While  warming 
his  house,  he  is  clearing  his  land.  He  would  lose  by  sitting 
idle,  if  his  neighbour  brought  his  fuel  to  him,  and  still  more 
if  he  had  to  spend  the  same  time  in  hauling  it,  because  he 
would  be  wearing  out  his  wagon  and  losing  the  manure. 
Were  he  to  hire  himself  and  his  wagon  to  another  for  the 
same  quantity  of  fuel  he  could  have  cut  on  his  own  property, 
he  would  be  a  loser,  for  his  farm  would  be  uncleared. 

If  he  take  the  stone  from  his  own  fields  to  build  his  house, 
he  gains  doubly.  His  house  is  built,  and  his  land  is  cleared. 
If  he  sit  still,  and  let  his  neighbour  bring  him  stone,  he  loses, 
for  his  fields  remain  unfit  for  cultivation.  If  he  work  equally 
hard  for  a  neighbour,  and  receive  the  same  apparent  wages, 
he  is  a  loser  by  the  fact  that  he  has  yet  to  remove  the  stones, 
and  until  they  shall  be  removed  he  cannot  cultivate  his 
land. 

With  every  improvement  in  the  machinery  of  exchange, 
there  is  a  diminution  in  the  proportion  which  that  machinery 
bears  to  the  mass  of  production,  because  of  the  extraordinary 
increase  of  product  consequent  upon  the  increased  powrer  of 
applying  labour  to  building  up  the  great  machine.  It  is  a 
matter  of  daily  observation  that  the  demand  for  horses  and  men 
increases  as  railroads  drive  them  from  the  turnpikes,  and  the 

9* 


102 


WEALTH. 


reason  is,  that  the  farmer's  means  of  improving  his  land  in- 
crease more  rapidly  than  men  and  horses  for  his  work.  The 
man  who  has,  thus  far,  sent  to  market  his  half-fed  cattle, 
accompanied  by  horses  and  men  to  drive  them,  and  wagons 
and  horses  loaded  with  hay  or  turnips  with  which  to  feed  them 
on  the  road,  and  to  fatten  them  when  at  market ;  now  fattens 
them  on  the  ground,  and  sends  them  by  railroad  ready  for 
the  slaughter-house.  His  use  of  the  machinery  of  exchange 
is  diminished  nine-tenths.  He  keeps  his  men,  his  horses,  and 
his  wagons,  and  the  refuse  of  his  hay  or  turnips,  at  home. 
The  former,  are  -employed  in  ditching  and  draining,  while 
the  latter  fertilizes'  the  soil  heretofore  cultivated.  His  pro- 
duction doubles,  and  he  accumulates  rapidly,  while  the  people 
around  him  have  more  to  eat,  more  to  spend  in  clothing,  and 
accumulate  more  themselves.  He  wants  labourers  in  the 
field,  and  they  want  clothes  and  houses.  The  shoemaker 
and  the  carpenter,  finding  that  there  exists  a  demand  for 
their  labour,  now  join  the  community,  eating  the  food  on  the 
ground  on  which  it  is  produced  ;  and  thus  the  machinery  of 
exchange  is  improved,  while  the  quantity  required  is  dimi- 
nished. The  quantity  of  flour  consumed  on  the  spot  induces 
the  miller  to  come  and  eat  his  share,  while  preparing  that  of 
others.  The  labour  of  exchanging  is  diminished,  and  more 
is  given  to  the  land,  and  the  lime  is  now  turned  up.  Tons 
of  turnips  are  obtained  from  the  same  surface  that  before  gave 
bushels  of  rye.  The  quantity  to  be  consumed  increases  faster 
lhan  the  population,  and  more  mouths  are  needed  on  the  spot, 
and  next  the  woollen-mill  comes.  The  wool  no  longer  requires 
wagons  and  horses  which  now  are  turned  to  transporting  coal, 
to  enable  the  farmer  to  dispense  with  his  woods,  and  to  re- 
duce to  cultivation  the  fine  soil  that  has,  for  centuries,  pro- 
duced nothing  but  timber.  Production  again  increases,  and 
the  new  wealth  now  takes  the  form  of  the  cotton-mill ;  and, 
with  every  step  in  the  progress,  the  farmer  finds  new  demands 
on  the  great  machine  he  has  constructed,  accompanied  with 
increased  power  on  his  part  to  build  it -up  higher  and  stronger, 


WEALTH.  103 

and  to  sink  its  foundations  deeper.  He  now  supplies  beef  and 
mutton,  wheat,  butter,  eggs,  poultry,  cheese,  and  every  other 
of  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  life,  for  which  the  climate  is 
suited ;  and  from  the  same  land  which  afforded,  when  his 
father  or  grandfather  first  commenced  cultivation  on  the  light 
soil  of  the  hills,  scarcely  sufficient  rye  or  barley  to  support  life. 

In  the  natural  course  of  things,  there  is  a  strong  tendency 
towards  placing  the  consumer  by  the  side  of  the  producer, 
and  thus  diminishing  the  quantity  required  of  the  machi- 
nery of  exchange  ;  and  wherever  that  tendency  does  not 
grow  in  the  ratio  of  the  growth  of  population,  it  is  a  con- 
sequence of  some  of  those  weak  "inventions"  by  which 
man  so  often  disturbs  the  harmony  of  nature.  Wherever 
her  laws  have  most  prevailed,  such  has  been  the  tendency, 
and  there  have  wealth  and  the  power  of  man  over  the  great 
machine,  most  rapidly  increased.  Rent  is  the  price  paid 
for  the  use  of  that  power,  and  it  increases  with  every  dimi- 
nution in  the -quantity  required  of  the  machinery  of  exchange. 

In  Attica,  in  the  days  of  Solon  and  the  Pisistratidae,  wealth 
and  population  grew  rapidly.  Cultivation  passed  from  the 
poor  to  the  fertile  soils,  and  the  manufacturer  of  Athens  con- 
sumed what  was  produced  by  the  farmer  of  Attica.  Led, 
unhappily,  to  meddle  in  the  affairs  of  Persia,  and  thus  to 
employ  a  portion  of  their  labour  upon  the  more  distant  soil  of 
Asia,  they  soon  found  themselves  driven  from  the  better  ones 
of  Attica  to  those  within  the  walls  of  Athens,  there  to  perish  of 
starvation.  Population  and  wealth  diminished,  and  thence- 
forward we  find  them  cultivating  the  lands  of  distant  and 
subject  cities,  through  the  medium  of  their  citizens :  substi- 
tuting weapons  of  offence  for  machinery  of  production  : 
and  becoming  poor  and  dissolute.  Poverty  begets  tyranny 
and  rapacity,  and  both  beget  a  love  of  war.  That  of  the 
Peloponnesus  follows.  Attica  is  ruined,  and  Athens  passes 
gradually  from  poverty  to  starvation,  and  at  last  to  ruin. 

Sparta  begins  with  the  poor  soils.  She  refuses  to  permit 
the  growth  of  population  or  of  wealth.  She  assassinates  her 


104  WEALTH. 

slaves,  while  employing  their  masters  on  the  distant  lands  of 
Attica,  or  of  Asia  ;  working  the  apparently  rich,  but  speedily 
exhausted,  soil  of  plunder,  and  neglecting  the  rich  soils  at 
home.  Poor  and  rapacious,  perfidious  and  tyrannical,  she 
continues  ever  weak  and  contemptible,  and  passes  out  of  ex- 
istence, leaving  as  her  sole  bequest  to  posterity,  the  record 
of  her  avarice  and  her  crimes. 

Rome,  in  the  days  of  Servius,  cultivated  the  fertile  soils, 
and  population  and  wealth  grew  rapidly,  with  a  diminishing 
necessity  for  the  machinery  of  exchange,  as  towns  and  cities 
grew  in  extent,  filled  with  men  engaged  in  fashioning  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  earth,  in  exchange  for  the  portion  of  those  products 
required  for  the  satisfaction  of  their  wants.  His  successor 
preferred  the  distant  soils,  and  employed  his  subjects  in  carry- 
ing arms  and  plundering  their  neighbours ;  and  in  building 
up  great  works  that  were  to  immortalize  him  with  posterity, 
but  which  developed  none  of  the  powers  of  the  great  food-pro- 
ducing machine.  The  product  of  labour  diminished,  and  the 
proportion  of  the  few  increased,  while  that  of  the  many  dimi- 
nished. Inequality  of  wealth  begot  inequality  of  power,  and 
that,  in  turn,  begot  a  love  of  the  more  distant  soils,  which 
were  to  be  cultivated  by  force  of  arms.  Passing  through  Italy 
and  Sicily,  we  find  her  citizens  in  Greece  ;  in  Africa,  Asia, 
Spain,  Gaul  and  Britain  ;  thus  going  from  the  rich  soils  to  the 
poorer  ones,  and  increasing  at  every  step  the  necessity  for  the 
machinery  of  exchange  ;  and  with  each  step  we  find  the  many 
becoming  poorer  and  more  debased,  and  the  few  becoming 
greater  and  more  depraved  ;  until  at  length,  decayed  at  the 
heart,  the  empire  passes  away :  having  existed  for  almost  a 
thousand  years,  a  model  of  rapacity,  dishonesty,  and  fraud, 
and  having  in  the  wiiole  period  produced  scarcely  a  single 
man  whose  name  has  come  down  to  posterity  with  an  untar- 
nished fame. 

The  people  of  Florence  commenced  their  cultivation  on 
the  light  soils  at  the  head  of  the  Arno.  With  increasing 
wealth,  the  products  of  the  land  increased :  and  as  food  be- 


WEALTH.  105 

came  abundant,  the  fashioner  came.  Wealth  and  population 
again  increased,  and  the  town  became  a  city :  and  both  again 
grew.  Led  to  involve  herself  in  the  wars  of  the  Church,  she 
is  found  cultivating  the  distant  soils  of  Bologna,  Milan,  and 
the  ghibelline  Pisa,  and  with  each  remove  from  home,  wealth 
and  population  diminish,  until  at  length,  impoverished  and 
depopulated,  the  better  soils  pass  out  of  cultivation,  and  the 
once  free  and  happy  people  become  the  slaves  of  the  Medici. 
She  increased  her  machinery  of  exchange  and  diminished  its 
power.  Bows,  and  swords,  and  muskets  became  more  nu- 
merous as  spades  and  pickaxes  disappeared,  and  the  product 
of  the  former  proved  to  be  far  less  than  had  been  that  of  the 
latter. 

Spain  expelled  that  portion  of  her  people  which  used  little 
machinery  of  exchange,  and  which  therefore  had  a  larger 
proportion  of  their  time  to  devote  to  cultivating  the  powers 
of  the  great  machine.  Another  portion,  with  arms  in  their 
hands,  cultivated  Sicily,  Naples,  Tuscany  and  the  Milanese  : 
a  third,  the  distant  soil  of  the  Netherlands :  and  a  fourth 
those  of  Peru  and  Mexico :  and  thus  she  increased  her 
machinery  of  exchange  while  diminishing  the  product  to 
be  exchanged.  With  each  step  in  the  process  she  became 
poorer,  and  men  now  may  starve  in  Andalusia  while  the  silos 
of  Castile  are  filled  with  grain,  the  mere  cost  of  transportation 
on  the  Backs  of  mules  placing  it  beyond  the  reach  of  the  poor 
Andalusian's  purse.  Her  people  are  still  in  a  state  of  bar- 
barism, from  having  been  forced  to  abandon  the  rich  soils, 
and  take  to  the  poor  ones,  having  used  too  much  bad  machi- 
nery of  exchange. 

For  more  than  a  thousand  years,  the  sovereigns,  nobles, 
and  gentlemen  of  France,  have  been  engaged  in  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  soils  of  the  Netherlands  and  Germany,  Ca- 
talonia and  Piedmont,  the  Milanese  and  Naples :  and  more 
recently  they  have  extended  their  operations  as  far  as  Rus- 
sia ;  while  Canada  and  Cayenne,  India  and  Egypt  have  at 
various  times  claimed  their  attention.  The  study  of  that 


106  WEALTH. 

nation  has  been  to  increase  the  machinery  of  exchange,  and 
diminish  that  of  production.  Swords  have  abounded  while 
spades  were  rare.  Cannon  were  numerous,  while  roads 
scarcely  existed.  Forts  and  castles  were  built  by  men  to 
whom  grist-mills  were  machines  unknown.  Ships  of  war 
were  numerous,  but  merchant  ships  were  scarce.  Camps 
grew  and  cities  decayed.  Gentlemen  became  more  nume- 
rous as  ploughmen  disappeared.  The  soil  they  cultivated, 
however,  bore 

"  Dead  Sea  fruits  that  tempt  tne  eye, 
But  turn  to  ashes  on  the  lips."* 

France  is  poor.     She  cultivates  the  poor  soils,  for  want 

*  "From  1803  to  1815,  twelve  campaigns  cost  us  nearly  a  million  of  men, 
who  died  in  the  field  of  battle,  or  in  the  prisons,  or  on  the  roads,  or  in  the  hospitals, 
and  six  thousand  millions  of  francs.  *  *  * 

«  Two  invasions  destroyed  or  consumed,  on  the  soil  of  old  France,  fifteen  hun- 
dred millions  of  raw  products,  or  of  manufactures,  of  houses,  of  workshops,  of 
machines,  and  of  animals,  indispensable  to  agriculture,  to  manufactures,  or  to 
commerce.  As  the  price  of  peace,  in  the  name  of  the  alliance,  our  country  has 
seen  herself  compelled  to  pay  fifteen  hundred  additional  millions,  that  she 
might  not  too  soon  regain  her  well  being,  her  splendour,  and  her  power.  Be- 
hold, in  twelve  years,  nine  thousand  millions  of  francs,"  (seventeen  hundred 
millions  of  dollars,)  "taken  from  the  productive  industry  of  France  and  lost  for 
ever.  We  found  ourselves  thus  dispossessed  of  all  our  conquests,  and  with 
two  hundred  thousand  strangers  encamped  on  our  territory,  where  they  lived, 
at  the  expense  of  our  glory  and  of  our  fortune,  until  the  end  of  the  year 
1818."— Dupin. 

The  results  of  this  course  of  operation  are  found  in  the  following  statement 
by  an  eminent  French  engineer : — «  I  have  frequently  traversed  in  different  de- 
partments, twenty  square  leagues,  without  meeting  with  a  canal,  a  road,  a  facto- 
ry, or  even  an  inhabited  estate.  The  country  seemed  a  place  of  exile  abandoned 
to  the  miserable,  whose  interests  and  whose  wants  are  equally  misunderstood, 
and  whose  distress  is  constantly  increasing,  because  of  the  low  prices  of  their 
products,  and  the  cost  of  transportation." — M.  Cordier. 

"  The  conditions  of  the  poorer  farmers,  daily  labourers,  and  beggars,  are  so 
near  akin,  that  the  passage  from  one  state  to  another  is  very  frequent.  Men- 
dicity is  not  deemed  disgraceful  in  Brittany.  Farmers  allow  their  children  to 
beg  along  the  roads.  On  saints'  days,  especially  the  festivals  of  celebrated 
saints,  the  aged,  infirm,  and  children  of  poor  farmers,  and  labourers,  turn  out. 
Some  small  hamlets  are  even  totally  abandoned  by  their  inhabitants  for  two 
or  three  days.  All  attend  the  festival  to  beg.  *  *  The  principal  cause  of 
misery  is  inebriety ;  its  frequency  among  the  lower  orders  keeps  them  in  po- 
verty. The  cabaret,  (wine  and  brandy  shop,)  absorbs  a  greater  part  of  their 
«araings." — Report  to  the  Commissioners  on  the  Poor  Laws. 


WEALTH.  107 

of  machinery  to  enable  her  to  reach  the  better.  For  a  po- 
pulation of  thirty-five  millions,  she  raises  five  hundred  and 
twenty  millions  of  bushels  of  wheat,  rye,  barley,  oats,  Indian 
corn  and  buckwheat,  and  about  half  that  quantity  of  pota- 
toes. Her  wheat  lands  vary  from  five  to  twenty  bushels  per 
acre,  the  average  being  about  ten.  Her  cattle  are  few  and 
poor :  as  are  her  sheep.  Her  manure  diminishes,  and  her 
seed  increases.  Her  horses,  her  food  and  her  fuel,  to  a  vast 
extent,  she  imports :  and  pays  for  them  in  the  produce  of 
looms  that  yield  but  little,  because  of  the  universal  poverty 
that  forbids  improvement  of  machinery,  or  combination  of  ac- 
tion. Her  production  of  solid  food,  divided  among  the  whole 
people,  gives  the  equivalent  of  three  hundred  and  forty-three 
pounds  of  bread,  and  thirty  pounds  of  meat,  per  annum,  to 
each  individual ;  while  of  wine,  beer,  cider,  perry  and  bran- 
dy, the  amount  is  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds  per  annum, 
or  nearly  half  as  much.  The  labour  that  water-drinkers 
would  employ  in  producing  corn,  is  in  France  given  to  pro- 
ducing wine  and  other  liquors ;  of  which  the  consumption 
averages  twenty  gallons  per  annum,  for  every  man,  woman, 
and  child  in  the  kingdom.  Of  what  is  the  actual  distribution 
of  food  an  idea  may  be  formed  from  the  fact  that  the  ave- 
rage income  of  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  population  is 
but  six  cents  per  day,  yielding  twenty-four  cents  for  the 
support  of  a  man,  his  wife  and  two  children  :  and  that 
in  a  country  in  which  the  average  price  of  wheat,  from 
1816  to  1835,  was  about  $1.20  per  bushel,  and  where  the 
profits  of  the  retailer,  and  the  cost  of  transportation  are  large ; 
so  that  ten  pounds  of  wheat  may  be  taken  as  the  value  of  the 
earnings  of  the  whole  family.  Under  such  circumstances  it 
is  not  matter  of  surprise  that  ignorance  of  true  economy 
should  so  far  exist  as  to  render  it  exceedingly  difficult  to  in- 
troduce improvements  in  the  machinery  of  exchange  at 
home,  as  has  been  shown  in  the  case  of  the  ingenious  Jac- 
fuard,  whose  life  was  unsafe  because  he  invented  a  ma- 


1 08  WEALTH. 

chine  of  greater  power  than  those  already  in  use.  The  tur- 
bulence of  French  workmen  is  in  the  direct  ratio  of  their  po- 
verty, and  that  is  exceeding  great.  France  now  proposes  to 
transport  a  portion  of  her  people  to  Algeria,  that  they  may 
there  raise  food  to  be  paid  for  in  the  products  of  the  ever- 
wretched  artisans  of  Lyons  and  Sedan,  who  are  surrounded 
by  fertile  soils  that  would  yield  largely,  and  require  no  troops 
to  protect  their  labourers.  The  effort  of  that  country,  from 
the  days  of  Clovis  to  the  present  time,  has  been  to  increase 
the  quantity  of  her  machinery  of  exchange,  and  to  prevent 
any  improvement  in  its  quality :  thereby  precluding  any  in- 
crease in  the  quantity  of  labour  that  might  be  applied  to  the 
development  of  the  powers  of  the  great  food-producing  ma- 
chine. Population  doubles  in  about  a  hundred  and  twenty 
years,  and  wealth  scarcely  more  rapidly.  Those  who  labour 
are  but  little  removed  from  starvation,  and  those  who  do  not, 
divide  among  themselves  the  great  mass  of  the  products. 
The  government  takes  thirty  per  cent,  of  the  product  of  land 
for  taxes  on  the  land  itself,  and  on  the  registration  of  deeds, 
mortgages,  &c.  Interest  on  the  innumerable  mortgages  with 
which  the  country  is  almost  literally  covered,  absorbs  nearly 
forty  per  cent.,  leaving  thirty  per  cent,  to  be  divided  between 
the  producer  and  the  lawyers,  who  now,  as  in  all  past  times, 
are  numerous  beyond  imagination,  and  live  on  the  endless 
litigation  to  which  poverty  gives  rise.  Vast  machinery  and 
small  production  is  everywhere  the  characteristic  of  France, 
and  has  been  so  from  the  days  of  Charlemagne.  Under 
such  circumstances,  the  exceeding  poverty  of  the  people  is 
not  matter  of  surprise  ;  nor  is  it  extraordinary  that  wealth  and 
population  cannot,  and  do  not,  increase.  At  all  periods  of 
her  history,  her  people  have  shown  themselves  well  disposed 
to  honest  industry,  and  Jacques  Bonhomme  has,  at  times, 
manifested  the  possession  of  all  the  qualities  required  in  a 
good  citizen;  but  labour,  or  the  care  of  labourers,  was  not 
the  business  of  gentlemen,  i.  e.  of  people  who  carried  arms, 


WEALTH.  109 

and  who  generally  owed  their  place  in  the  world  to  the  fact 
that  their  fathers,  or  grandfathers,  had  profited  largely  by  the 
cultivation  of  the  rich  soils  afforded  by  the  plunder  of  the 
cities  of  Italy  or  the  Netherlands :  or  who  like  La  Hire,  Sain- 
trailles,  Dammartin,  and  Dunois,  "  the  young  and  brave,"  had 
distinguished  themselves  as  ecorcheurs,  i.  e.  flayers,  of  the  un- 
happy class  at  home  engaged  in  preparing  the  great  machine 
required  for  the  production  of  food.  It  was  their  especial 
privilege  to  seek  plunder  and  glory,  and  to  collect  taxes  for  the 
payment  of  their  assistants  in  the  work  :  and  the  payment  of 
those  taxes  exhausted,  as  it  now  still  exhausts,  the  power  of 
the  country  ;  and  meadows  are  abandoned,  while  men  culti- 
vate thin  soils  which  yield  five  bushels  to  the  acre,  or  about 
three  times  the  seed. 

The  insular  position  of  England  gave  her  security  from  in- 
vasion. Security  tended  largely  to  promote  the  growth  of 
wealth  and  freedom,  and  comparative  freedom  tended  to  fa- 
cilitate the  further  growth  of  wealth.  That  wealth,  however, 
was  not  permitted  to  be  applied  to  the  improvement  of  the 
great  food-producing  machine.  The  Church  had  an  interest, 
amounting  to  one-tenth,  in  all  its  products,  increase  as  they 
might ;  and  the  owner  of  the  land  was  unwilling  to  invest 
his  means  in  improving  property  liable  to  such  a  tax,  while 
the  labourer  felt  little  disposed  to  exert  himself  when  so  large 
a  portion  of  his  products  was  not  to  be  subject  to  his  own 
disposition.  The  owner  of  the  remaining  nine-tenths  was 
rarely  a  free  agent.  In  some  cases,  his  property  was  en- 
tailed, and  if  he  began  to  cut  the  timber,  his  son  regarded 
the  act  as  waste,  and  an  injunction  followed.  If  his  lands 
required  drainage,  he  could  not  pledge  the  income  beyond  his 
life,  and  it  remained  undrained.  When  not  entailed,  it  was 
burthened  with  endless  settlements,  dowers,  remainders,  life- 
interests,  &c.,  while  lawyers  surrounded  it  with  forms  so  end- 
less that  a  conveyance  was  one  of  the  most  serious  affairs 
of  life.  The  law  of  succession  gave  the  whole  to  the  eldest 

10 


110  WEALTH. 

son,  who  was  thus  made  sufficiently  rich  to  desire  to  do  no- 
thing, while  his  brothers  and  sisters  were  rendered  too  poor 
to  be  able  to  do  any  thing  for  themselves,  and  were  gene- 
rally thrown  on  the  bounty  of  the  state.  Wealth  grew  ra- 
pidly, for  internal  peace  prevailed,  but  it  could  not  go  on  the 
land,  and  it  had  to  seek  an  outlet.  It  sought  manufactures 
and  commerce,  there  to  obtain,  by  aid  of  expensive  machi- 
nery, temporary  in  its  duration,  a  less  reward  than  could 
have  been  obtained  at  home  while  making  the  great  ma- 
chine. The  consequence  was  that  capital,  and  ships,  and 
manufactures,  and  gentlemen,  and  labourers,  were  all  super- 
abundant, and  food  alone  was  scarce.  To  find  a  market  for 
manufactures,  employment  for  ships,  and  poor  gentlemen, 
and  labourers,  colonies  were  needed :  and  then,  in  order  that 
they  might  use  as  much  as  possible  of  the  machinery  of  ex- 
change, it  became  necessary  to  compel  them  to  send  their 
raw  materials  to  England  ;  and  they  were  prohibited  from 
making  even  hob-nails,  or  from  effecting  exchanges  among 
themselves,  except  through  the  medium  of  English  ports  and 
English  merchants.  Other  powers  were  equally  desirous  to 
preserve  the  power  of  taxing  their  colonies,  but  England 
deemed  it  right  to  resist  in  others  what  she  practised  herself, 
and  her  colonists  were  encouraged  to  engage  in  the  trade  of 
smuggling  the  products  of  the  machinery  which  England  was 
thus  determined  to  use.  Smuggling  led  to  wars,  and  wars 
gave  occasion  to  freebooters  like  Drake  and  Hawkins,  to  im- 
mortalize themselves  by  plundering  and  burning  towns  and 
murdering  their  inhabitants.  Wars  were  expensive,  and  in- 
volved a  necessity  for  heavy  taxes,  but  colonies  were  to  be 
maintained  in  order  that  employment  might  be  had  for  the 
looms  and  ships  of  England ;  and  taxes  gave  support  to  the  sons 
of  gentlemen  who  would  not  permit  their  shares  of  the  great 
machine  to  be  improved.  Navigation  laws  drove  the  ships 
of  other  nations  from  the  ocean,  while  "  Rules  of  '56, "  and 
other  rules,  and  later,  "  Orders  in  Council  "  drove  them  from 


WEALTH.  Ill 

the  sea  in  time  of  war.  "  Ships,  colonies,  and  commerce" 
were  the  great  wants  of  England.  For  these,  she  has  involved 
herself  in  endless  wars.  For  these,  she  has  committed  enor- 
mous crimes  :  and.  all  because  she  has  pertinaciously  insisted 
upon  using  the  inferior  in  preference  to  the  superior  machi- 
nery of  production.  For  these,  she  has  sent  embassies  at  enor- 
mous cost  to  distant  nations,  and  has  maintained  the  most 
expensive  fleets  and  armies  :  her  sole  object  being  the  sale  of 
cloth,  and  knives,  and  china  ware.*  England  was  to  be  made 
the  workshop  of  the  world  at  any  cost.  France  marched  with 
the  sword  alone.  England  with  the  sword  in  one  hand  and 
a  piece  of  cloth  in  the  other.  Manufactures  were  too  cheap 
at  home,  and  food  too  dear.  Manufacturers  wanted  cheap 
food,  and  the  landlord  gave  them  corn  laws  to  enable  him  to 
waste  his  capital  and  still  get  rents :  but  he  gave  them  also 
ships  and  men  to  enable  them  to  prevent  the  world  abroad 
from  placing  the  consumer  by  the  producer,  and  to  compel 
them  to  do  that  which  he  himself  would  not  do,  i.  e.  in- 
crease the  supply  of  the  raw  produce  of  the  earth :  to  be 
transported  in  British  ships,  wrought  in  British  looms,  and 
re-transported  in  British  ships  to  the  place  of  consumption. 

The  necessary  consequence  of  such  a  course  of  action  has 
been  an  unceasing  disturbance  of  the  movements  of  all  other 
countries.  Labour  was  not  permitted,  in  England,  to  seek 
employment  on  the  great  machine  of  production,  and  it  was 
superabundant  and  cheap.  Capital,  in  like  manner,  was 
denied  employment,  and  it  too  was  cheap.  Both  these  were 
then  placed  under  the  control  of  ship-owners  and  manufac- 
turers, to  enable  them  to  force  upon  other  nations  cloths  pro- 
duced by  women  and  children  who  had  little  food,  and  very 

*  "  The  history  of  the  colonies  for  many  years  is  that  of  a  series  of  loss, 
and  of  the  destruction  of  capital ;  and  if  to  the  many  millions  of  private  ca- 
pital which  have  been  thus  wasted,  were  added  some  hundred  millions  that 
have  been  raised  by  British  taxes,  and  spent  on  account  of  the  colonies,  the 
lotal  loss  to  the  British  public  of  wealth  which  the  colonies  have  occasioned, 
would  appear  to  be  quite  enormous." — Parnell. 


112  WEALTH. 

little  to  spare  for  clothing  ;*  many  of  whom  went  in  rags, 
and  some  absolutely  naked, f  that  other  nations  might  have 
clothing  cheap. 

In  the  natural  course  of  things,  the  fashioner,  whether  of 
wood  or  of  wool,  takes  his  place  by  the  side  of  the  producer 
of  the  food  he  is  to  consume,  because  the  transportation  of 
food  requires  the  use  of  a  quantity  of  the  machinery  of  ex- 
change so  far  exceeding  that  required  for  the  transportation 
of  all  other  commodities  required  by  the  labourer.  The 
policy  of  England  was  opposed  to  this  course  of  action.  She 
had  forced  herself  into  the  position  of  being  the  great  fash- 
ioner of  the  world,  and  there  she  was  disposed  to  remain. 
It  was,  however,  an  artificial  state  of  things,  and,  as  is  always 
the  case  where  capital  and  labour  are  denied  permission  to 
take  their  natural  course,  it  was  liable  to  perpetual  change. 
The  thirst  for  colonies  produced  wars,  and  then  her  armies 
consumed  foreign  food,  paid  for  with  manufactures.  Peace 
came,  and  she  wanted  no  food.  The  other  parties  then  could 
take  no  cloths  or  knives,  and  her  artisans  perished  by  thou- 
sands. Sometimes  cloths  and  knives  were  dear,  because  she 
had  found  employment  for  her  people  and  her  wealth  in  war, 
or  perhaps  in  founding  new  colonies.  Other  nations  then 
attempted  to  place  the  consumer  by  the  producer.  Peace 
made  capital  and  labour,  cloths  and  knives,  cheap,  and 
manufacturers  elsewhere  were  ruined.  Prices  rose  again. 
Another  effort  was  made.  Prices  fell,  and  again  were  they 
ruined. 

*  By  reference  to  the  report  of  the  Assistant  Commissioner  charged  with 
the  inquiry  into  the  condition  of  women  and  children  employed  in  agricul- 
ture, it  will  be  seen  that  a  change  of  clothes  seems  to  be  out  of  the  question. 
The  upper  parts  of  the  under-clothes  of  women  at  work,  even  their  stays, 
quickly  become  wet  with  perspiration,  while  the  lower  parts  cannot  escape 
getting  equally  wet  in  nearly  every  kind  of  work  in  which  they  are  employed, 
except  in  the  driest  weather.  It  not  unfrequently  happens  that  a  woman,  on 
returning  from  work,  is  obliged  to  go  to  bed  for  an  hour  or  two  to  allow  her 
clothes  to  be  dried.  It  is  also  by  no  means  uncommon  for  her,  if  she  does 
not  do  this,  to  put  them  on  again  the  next  morning  nearly  as  wet  as  when 
she  took  them  off. 

f  See  Parliamentary  Report  on  the  Coal  Mines  of  Great  Britain. 


WEALTH.  113 

In  India,  she  killed  the  cotton  manufacturer.  The  Hindoo 
then  exported  cotton.  In  America,  she  drove  the  people  to 
the  west  to  raise  food,  when  they  would  have  preferred  to 
remain  at  home  and  consume  food,  while  making  cloth. 
Food  was  rendered  so  cheap  that  the  planter  abandoned 
food  and  went  to  cotton.  Cotton  was  rendered  so  cheap  that 
the  Hindoo  was  ruined.  The  Hindoo,  deprived  of  his  two 
great  trades,  turned  his  attention  to  opium.  The  Chinese 
government  did  not  like  the  trade,  and  tried  to  put  it  down. 
England  made  war,  destroyed  a  few  thousand  lives,  and 
many,  very  many,  millions  of  property,  and  thus  established 
the  right  of  her  subjects  to  furnish  to  the  Chinese  the  means 
of  intoxication.  The  planters  of  the  south,  driven  from  food 
to  cotton,  first  ruined  the  Hindoo,  and  then  were  nearly 
ruined  themselves.  They  now  raise  food,  and  make  ploughs 
and  other  machines  required  in  agriculture,  and  some  of  them 
convert  their  own  cotton  into  cloth.  They  are  placing  the 
Consumer  by  the  producer,  and  the  consequence  is,  that  they 
are  better  paid  for  the  cotton  they  have  to  sell,  having 
greatly  diminished  their  machinery  of  exchange,  while 
rendering  it  more  efficient.  England  now  threatens  them 
with  the  Hindoo  as  a  rival  producer  of  their  great  staple. 
Such  is  the  character  of  the  whole  system.  It  is  one  of 
endless  interference,  and  it  has  tended  to  produce  elsewhere 
other  interferences  with  trade,  having  for  their  great  object 
security  against  its  effects.  Tariffs  of  protection  are  uni- 
versal ;  and  with  every  new  one  has  arisen  in  that  country 
a  desire  for  new  colonies,  to  be  governed  by  laws  made  at 
home,  by  virtue  of  which  she  may  compel  her  subjects  to 
use  the  machinery  of  exchange  she  thus  insists  upon  pro- 
viding for  the  use  of  the  world.  She  employs  her  people  in 
cultivating  poor  soils  in  Canada,  South  Africa,  Australia  and 
New*  Zealand,  while  the  richest  soils  of  Britain  are  yet  un- 
drained :  and  thus  obtains,  by  aid  of  the  most  expensive  ma- 
chinery of  exchange,  commodities  that  could  be  produced 
at  home  with  half  the  labour. 


114  WEALTH. 

The  eyes  of  England  have  always  been  turned  from 
home.  She  must  and  would  have  ships,  colonies,  and  com- 
merce. To  that  desire  is  due  the  waste  of  thousands  of 
millions  :  of  more  than  would  have  sufficed  to  cover  the 
island  with  railroads ;  to  render  every  field  a  garden  ;  to  ! 
provide  food  in  abundance  for  a  population  five  times  greater 
than  now  finds  subsistence  on  her  soil,  and  composed  of  a 
healthy,  hardy  race,  capable  of  guarding  their  own  rights, 
and  regulating  for  themselves  the  hours  of  labour,  the  drain- 
age of  houses,  the  mode  and  expense  of  interments,  and  a 
thousand  other  things,  in  reference  to  which  they  are  now 
compelled  to  claim  parliamentary  interference:  by  which  is 
indicated  an  extreme  inability  to  protect  themselves. 

The  state  of  things  that  has  existed  during  the  last  thirty 
years  is  the  strongest  commentary  on  the  system.  It  is  im- 
possible to  look  at  any  work  on  British  agriculture  without 
being  struck  with  its  backward  state  in  most  parts  of  the 
kingdom,  when  compared  with  what  might  naturally  have 
been  looked  for  in  a  country  so  abounding  in  wealth  and 
population.  The  cry  is  everywhere  that  the  people  are 
too  numerous ;  yet  the  best  lands  in  many  of  the  counties 
are  badly  cultivated,  although  wealth  so  much  abounds  that 
it  has  been  made  a  matter  of  question  whether  it  might  not 
be  too  abundant  for  the  prosperity  of  a  nation  !*  So  abound- 
ing, it  has,  however,  been  almost  as  often  the  question 
where  to  get  it,  as  how  to  be  rid  of  it.  For  the  first  few 
years  that  followed  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  it  was  lent  to  all 
the  arbitrary  sovereigns  of  Europe.  In  1825,  it  was  sent 
throughout  Spanish  America.  In  1835,  it  was  sent  to  all 
North  America.  Between  each  of  these,  however,  was  a 
period  of  extreme  distress  to  manufacturers  and  ship-owners  ; 
of  starvation  to  operatives,  and  of  ruin  to  tenants ;  and  such 
would  continue  to  be  the  case  were  the  system  to  be  con- 
tinued. None  was  ever  devised  so  well  calculated  to  retaid, 

*  Wakefield's  Notes  to  Smith's  Wealth  of  Nations. 


WEALTH.  115 

without  the  aid  of  war,  the  progress  of  a  nation.  It  has  suc- 
ceeded in  rendering  men  ami  wealth  superabundant  in  a  na- 
tion that  imports  food,  which  yet  can,  even  now,  produce  it 
at  less  cost  of 'labour  than  any  other  of  the  world,  America  not 
excepted ;  and  it  has  also  succeeded  in  causing  the  waste  of 
hundreds  of  millions  in  loans,  mines,  colonies,  &c.,  of  which 
but  a  small  part  will  ever  return. 

A  change  has  come  over  the  system,  and  England  is  now 
making  a  market  at  home  for  labour  and  capital.  She  is 
at  present  fairly  engaged  in  building  up  the  great  food-pro- 
ducing machine,  and  preparing  to  bring  the  supply  of  the 
necessaries  of  life  up  to  a  level  with  the  demands  for  con- 
sumption. She  is  substituting  the  permanent  for  the  tempo- 
rary ;  and,  with  each  step  of  her  progress  in  this  direction, 
capital  and  labour  are  becoming  more  valuable.  A  century 
since  consols  were  at  107.  They  are  now  at  80,  after  having 
been,  quite  recently,  by  one  of  the  disturbances  to  which  we 
have  referred,  forced  up  to  par.  England  is  the  richest  na- 
tion of  Europe ;  and  she  owes  that  distinction  to  the  fact  that 
she  has  enjoyed  peace  at  home,  although  she  has  grievously 
disturbed  the  peace  of  others  abroad.  She  has,  on  many 
occasions,  failed,  totally,  to  respect  in  others  the  rights  she  de- 
sired others  to  respect  in  herself.  To  these  failures  is  due  the 
anomalous  position  in  which  she  stands.  With  fertile  lands 
and  immense  wealth,  her  soil  is  covered  with  alms-houses. 
A  continuance  of  the  system  which  is  now  in  course  of  being 
pursued,  will  lead,  if  even  the  experience  of  the  last  few 
years  has  not  already  led,  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  judicious 
employment  of  labour  and  capital  begets  a  market  for  both. 
The  railroads  that  have  been  made  have  caused  the  absorp- 
tion of  a  vast  amount  of  both  in  agricultural  improvement, 
which,  in  its  turn,  produces  a  demand  for  new  roads,  and 
they  produce  a  demand  for  labour.  Wages  rise,  and  houses 
are  wanted,  and  coal,  and  lime,  and  marl,  and  clothing ;  and 
the  demand  for  labour  and  capital  again  increases ;  and  thus 
on  and  on,  each  producing,  and  produced  by,  the  other, 


116  WEALTH. 

with  a  constantly  augmenting  wealth,  and  constant  improve- 
ment of  condition.* 

For  more  than  two  hundred  years  from  the  landing  of  the 
Pilgrims,  the  people  of  the  United  States  never  struck  a 
blow,  except  in  defence  of  their  rights. f  Their  movement 
westward  was  of  the  most  gradual  kind;  and  although  occa- 
sional difficulties  have  arisen  with  the  aborigines,  the  change 
of  occupants  has,  uniformly,  been  effected  with  less  trouble, 
and  less  effusion  of  blood,  than  has  been  witnessed  in  any 
other  portion  of  the  world  except,  perhaps,  Australia,  where 
the  wretched  inhabitants  were  too  miserable  to  think  of  re- 
sistance. During  the  whole  period,  we  may  trace  the  natu- 
ral effort  to  place  the  consumer  by  the  side  of  the  producer 
and  thus  to  diminish  the  loss  resulting  from  the  use  of  costly 
machinery  of  exchange  ;  and  during  the  whole  we  see  the 
effort  counteracted  by  the  false  direction  given  to  the  capital 
and  labour  of  England.  Laws  were  passed  prohibiting  va- 
rious species  of  manufactures  in  the  colonies,  while  others 
forbade  their  trading  with  each  other,  and  thus  North  Caro- 
lina and  Massachusetts  were  forced  to  exchange  their  pro- 
ducts through  the  medium  of  the  ports  of  England.  Twenty- 
two  years  of  European  war  produced  a  great  demand  foi 
food,  and  tended  to  the  dispersion  of  the  people  for  raising  it 
to  supply  the  wants  of  people  who  thus  preferred  the  use  of 
swords  to  that  of  ploughs.  Years  of  disturbed  relations  with 
England  tended  to  produce  concentration,  and  labour  and 
capital  were  applied  to  fashioning  the  produce  which  other- 
wise might  have  been  exported  in  its  rude  state.  Robbery 
and  oppression  on  the  high  seas  forced  them  to  this  effort  to 
place  the  consumer  by  the  side  of  the  producer.  Peace 
came,  and  the  whole  wealth  of  England  was  turned  to  manu- 
factures, while  armies  ceased  to  waste  food.  .The  farmers 

*  Such  would  be  the  effect  of  this  operation,  gently  and  quietly  pursued;  but 
what  are  to  be  the  momentary  effects  of  a  railroad  mania,  producing  efforts  to 
do  in  three  years  what  should  be  done  in  ten,  remains  yet  to  be  seen. 

•{•  We  should  be  glad  if  we  could  say  the  same  of  the  past  two  years. 


WEALTH.  117 

and  manufacturers  of  the  United  States  were  both  ruined, 
and  hence  arose  the  first  demand  for  protection  by  means  of 
a  tariff.  A  few  years  passed  by,  and  then  the  years  of  "  pros- 
perity," so  loudly  vaunted  by  the  Premier  as  permanent,  were 
followed  by  the  universal  ruin  of  1826,  in  which  were  swept 
away  a  new  set  of  manufacturers  engaged  in  finding  a  market 
at  home  for  the  supplies  of  food  no  longer  needed  abroad. 
The  consequence  was  the  tariff  of  1828,  which  was  followed 
by  the  act  known  by  the  name  of  the  Compromise  (1832); 
and  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  in  history  an  instance  of  more 
equitable  and  quiet  adjustment  of  a  difficult  question.  From 
the  time  of  its  passage  until  the  year  1836,  however,  capital 
was  steadily  accumulating  in  England,  and  seeking  a  vent 
abroad,  as  railroads  then  were  scarcely  permitted  at  home. 
Much  of  it  came  to  the  United  States,  in  the  form  of  iron  and 
cloth,  to  be  applied  to  the  making  of  roads,  or  of  clothing  for 
the  people  employed  in  making  them.  The  roads  half-made, 
the  collapse  came,  and  all  again  was  ruin.  The  Compromise 
was  killed,  and  the  tariff  of  1842  took  its  place.  That  of 
1846  has  succeeded  it;  and  now  we  have  another  collapse. 
English  factories  are  closed,  and  artisans  are  discharged, 
and  thousands  of  houses  are  vacated  because  of  the  impos- 
sibility of  paying  rent.  Railroads  still  go  on,  and  furnaces 
are  still  employed,  but  panic  is  the  order  of  the  day,  and  all 
may  stop:  and  then  the  iron-makers  of  America  will  be  ruined. 
It  is  scarcely  possible  to  study  this  brief  history  without 
seeing  that  the  interferences  which  have  existed  have  been  the 
result  of  a  natural  effort  at  self-preservation.  In  the  regular 
course  of  human  affairs,  the  man  who  makes  the  shoes  eats 
the  food  produced  by  the  man  who  desires  to  wear  them  ;  and 
he  does  so  because  it  is  easier  for  him  to  bring  the  awl  and 
the  lapstone,  by  aid  of  which  he  may  make  ten  thousand 
pairs  of  shoes,  than  it  is  for  the  farmer  to  carry  to  him  the 
food  necessary  for  his  support  while  doing  it.  This  ten- 
dency struggles  incessantly  to  develope  itself,  and  is  seen 
on  every  occasion  making  its  appearance,  but  it  has  almost 


118  WEALTH. 

invariably  been  crushed  ;  the  effect  of  which  has  been  that 
the  people  of  the  United  States  are  now  far  more  widely 
scattered,  and  far  less  wealthy,  than  they  would  otherwise 
have  been.  They  have  been  compelled  to  use  a  vast 
quantity  of  inferior  machinery  of  exchange,  in  the  form  of 
roads  and  wagons,  in  place  of  the  superior  machinery  of 
steam-engines  and  mills :  and  they  have  been  driven  to 
begin  on  poor  soils  in  the  West,  yielding  ten  bushels  of  wheat 
to  the  acre,  when  otherwise  they  might  have  worked  their 
way  down  into  the  rich  soils  of  the  river  bottoms  farther 
east ;  portions  of  which  may  at  all  times  be  bought  for  far 
less  than  the  cost  of  production.  Pennsylvania  abounds  in 
bottom-land  that  will  be  cultivated  when  the  farmer  can  find 
a  market  at  his  door  for  milk  and  cream,  and  butter  ;  but  in 
the  mean  time  her  citizens  go  west  to  seek  other  lands  that 
may  produce  something  that  will  bear  carriage  to  the  distant 
markets  of  the  world.  It  is  now  obvious  what  has  been  the 
cause  of  this,  the  single  case  in  which  the  policy  of  the 
Union  has  appeared  to  depart  from  the  direction  of  perfect 
freedom  of  trade.  We  have  always  deemed  such  interfer- 
ences  erroneous,  but  are  now  well  satisfied  that  the  error 
has  been  with  us. 

Man  must  everywhere  commence  with  the  poor  soils,  and 
the  richer  ones  cannot  be  cultivated  until  the  consumer  and 
the  producer  are  brought  together.  Whatever  foreign  inter- 
ference tends  to  prevent  this  union,  tends  to  compel  men  to 
scatter  themselves  over  poor  soils,  to  prevent  increase  in  the 
reward  to  labour,  and  to  prevent  advance  in  civilization  : 
and  resistance  to  such  interference  is  a  necessary  act  of 
self-defence.  The  article  of  chief  consumptipn  is  food,  of 
which  rich  soils  would  yield  larger  quantities  in  return  to 
half  the  labour  required  on  the  poor  ones;  and  half  the  dif- 
ference would  convert  into  cloth  all  the  cotton  and  wool  pro- 
duced, and  make  the  iron  used,  in  the  Union.  Such  being  the 
case,  the  exports  required  to  pay  for  English  labour  are  so 
much  absolute  loss,  while  the  great  'machine  itself  suffers  in 


WEALTH.  119 

the  loss  of  labour  that  would  double  it  in  product  and  in 
value.  It  has  been  an  effort  of  the  people  to  diminish  their 
necessities,  and  to  increase  their  power  over  their  own  actions. 
The  case  is  not  unlike  one  that  has  recently  occurred, 
in  which  the  people  of  a  neighbourhood  themselves  did 
what  the  whole  people  have  partially  done  in  the  other. 
The  steamboat  fare  in  a  particular  case  was  deemed  too 
high.  Opposition  boats,  at  half  price,  were  repeatedly  at- 
tempted, and  as  repeatedly  run  off  by  reducing  the  fare  so 
low  that  opposition  could  not  live.  Another  was  attempted, 
and  the  price  of  the  old  boat  was  reduced  to  one-fourth ; 
but  the  farmers,  wiser  grown,  taxed  themselves  the  additional 
quarter  and  refused  to  leave  the  new  boat,  and  after  two 
years  of  ineffectual  contest,  the  price  was  fixed  permanently 
at  half  the  original  price.  The.  resistance  offered  by  the 
American  tariff  tended  greatly  to  produce,  if,  indeed,  it  was 
not  the  absolute  cause  of  the  abolition  of  the  corn  lawrs ; 
and  that  measure  was  precisely  the  one  needed  for  giving 
the  right  direction  to  the  capital  of  England.  She  will  now 
become  more  extensively  agricultural,  and  the  United  States 
may,  at  some  future  time,  be  enabled  to  concentrate  their 
population  upon  the  rich  soils,  instead  of  scattering  so  widely 
as  they  have  heretofore  done  :  and  as,  by  degrees,  these  two 
effects  shall  be  produced,  the  necessity  for  protection  will 
disappear. 

If  the  view  we  have  thus  offered  be  correct,  as  we  believe 
it  to  be,  it  will  be  obvious  that  the  people  of  the  United 
States  have  done  in  commerce  as  they  have  elsewhere  done, 
and  that  they  have  engaged  in  no  war  of  any  description 
whatsoever,  except  for  self-defence.  The  consequence  of 
this  is,  the  great  fact  that  the  poor  and  scattered  colonists 
of  sixty  years  since  now  constitute  the  wealthiest  nation  in 
the  world.  They  have  accumulated,  within  a  very  brief 
period,  a  larger  property  than  is  possessed  even  by  the 
United  Kingdom,  the  wealthiest  community  of  the  eastern 
hemisphere.  They  make  a  larger  dividend  on  a  larger 


120  WEALTH. 

capital,  and  that  dividend  is  made  among  twenty-one  mil- 
lions ;  whereas,  that  of  the  other  is  the  portion  of  twenty- 
eight  millions.  The  consequence  is,  that  they  are  better  fed, 
better  clothed,  better  lodged,  better  warmed,  and  better 
taught,  than  any  other  community.  Such  is  the  result  of 
peace  abroad,  combined  with  abstinence  from  interference  at 
home.  That  such  should  be  the  case,  is  the  great  triumph 
of  freedom  of  trade.  They  have  had  no  excise  officers,  or 
tax  gatherers,  to  interfere  with  the  exchanges  of  property 
within,  while  the  interferences  with  exchanges  abroad  ap- 
pear to  have  been  even  less  than  were  absolutely  necessary 
for  self-protection.  Indeed,  so  strong  is  the  tendency  to  ab- 
stinence from  interference,  that  it  has  always  been  to  us  a 
matter  of  surprise  that  there  should  ever  have  been  found 
a  majority  of  the  people  to  sanction  any  ;  yet  it  now  appears 
that  it  was  the  result  of  an  instinctive  consciousness  of  what 
was  indispensable  for  the  improvement  of  their  condition : 
and  that  that  instinct  was  a  safer  guide  than  the  theories  of 
those  would  have  directed  them. 

To  many,  the  correctness  of  this  assertion  of  the  superior 
wealth  of  the  Union  may  appear  doubtful,  but  a  little  exami- 
nation will  satisfy  them  of  its  truth.  That  of  Great  Britain 
appears  greater,  because  more  centralized.  The  government 
can  borrow  money  more  readily  ;  but  that  it  can  do  so  is  only 
evidence  that  capital  is  not  invested  as  fast  as  it  is  produced  : 
that  it  stagnates  :  which  it  never  does  except  where  there  is 
some  error  in  the  system.  At  no  period  during  the  last  sixty 
years  was  she  so  poor  as  in  1813 ;  yet  at  none  did  the 
government  make  larger  loans,  or  more  readily.  In  the  his- 
tory of  France,  we  are  constantly  struck  with  the  facility  of 
obtaining  loans,  while  the  country  appears  to  be  in  a  state 
of  universal  misery  and  wretchedness.  That  misery  was  the 
result  of  enormous  taxation,  by  which  the  few  were  enriched, 
and  they  were  always  ready  to  lend  to  the  party  by  whose  aid 
their  taxes  were  collected.  The  people  were  too  poor  and 
miserable,  and  property  was  too  insecure,  to  permit  the  exist- 


WEALTH.  121 

ence  of  a  demand  for  capital ;  and  therefore  it  was  that  the 
government  could  borrow  at  five  per  cent,  at  a  time  when 
failure  in  the  payment  of  interest  was  a  matter  of  frequent 
occurrence.  Such,  likewise,  was  the  case  in  Florence,  in 
time  of  distress.  The  government  could  always  borrow,  and 
most  readily  when  wars  had  rendered  property  so  insecure 
that  trade  was  almost  at  an  end.  The  little  states  of  Ger- 
many now  borrow  at  four  and  a  half  per  cent,  from  bankers 
and  others  who  are  enriched  at  the  expense  of  the  labourer 
and  taxpayer  ;  but  this  is  an  evidence  of  poverty,  and  not  of 
wealth.  Of  a  thousand,  or  ten  thousand  men:  or  even  hun- 
dreds of  thousands :  each  occupying  a  farm  of  fifty  acres, 
scarcely  one  will  have-,  at  any  time,  a  thousand  dollars  to 
lend,  because  each  appropriates  his  profits  as  fast  as  earned 
to  the  improvement  of  his  farm  :  to  bringing  the  better  soils 
into  operation.  Had  they  a  landlord,  they  would  be  steadily 
engaged  in  laying  up  that  which  they  would  otherwise  thus 
promptly  have  invested,  and  on  rent-day  the  proprietor  might 
have  $20,000  or  $50,000  to  lend  to  government :  but  the  fer- 
tile soils  would  remain  inactive  unless  he  chose  to  make  them 
active,  and  he  might  not  choose  it.  Had  they  a  debt  of  hun- 
dreds of  millions,  quarter-day  would  see  accumulated  the  large 
sums  required  for  the  dividends,  and  it  would  then  rest  with 
the  public  creditors  to  determine  upon  the  mode  of  investment, 
and  governments  would  borrow  without  difficulty;  whereas, 
had  no  such  debt  existed,  each  workman,  each  labourer,  each 
farmer,  and  each  manufacturer,  would  have  invested  for 
his  own  advantage,  as  fast  as  it  was  made,  the  amount 
that  otherwise  he  would  have  contributed  to  this  fund.  In 
Great  Britain  both  these  causes  of  disturbance  may  be  found, 
and  hence  she  appears  richer  than  she  is ;  while  in  the  United 
States  neither  exists,  and  hence  they  are  richer  than  they 
appear;  and  the  rapidity  of  increase  where  every  man  invests 
on  the  instant,  and  on  his  own  property,  his  otherwise  spare 
labour,  or  surplus  proceeds  of  labour,  is  so  prodigious  as  to 
defy  calculation.  They  are  now  the  wealthiest  nation  in  the 

11 


122  WEALTH. 

world :  and  their  annual  accumulations  are  at  least  double 
those  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  although  their  average 
expenditure  is  greater.  They  spend  more,  and  yet  econo- 
mize a  greater  proportion  of  their  earnings  than  any  people 
in  the  world. 

The  man  who  employs  his  children  in  robbing  his  neigh- 
bours' barns  and  hen-roosts,  and  lets  his  farm  remain  un- 
tilled :  will  continue  poor.  The  soil  he  cultivates  is  appa- 
rently rich,  but  really  barren.  Such  has  been  the  course  of 
France.  The  man  who  builds  a  mill  in  which  to  grind  his 
neighbours'  grain,  and  sends  a  portion  of  his  children  to 
cultivate  distant  lands,  while  employing  others  of  them  in 
building  wagons  and  in  hauling  home  their  grain,  while  his  own 
farm  remains  untilled,  will  continue  poor.  He  loses  labour 
and  manure.  The  man  who  does  these  things,  and  half-cul- 
tivates a  large  farm,  the  profits  of  which  make  some  amends 
for  losses  elsewhere,  may  grow  rich  slowly.  He  loses  much 
labour  and  manure.  Such  has  been  the  course  of  England. 

The  farmer  who  minds  his  own  business,  and  thus  attracts 
around  him  the  miller,  the  tanner,  the  shoemaker,  the  black- 
smith, the  carpenter,  the  wheelwright,  the  hatter,  the  spin- 
ner, the  weaver,  and  the  paper-maker,  performs  all  his  ex- 
changes with  the  most  perfect  and  the  least  costly  machinery 
of  exchange ;  and  has  almost  all  his  labour  and  manure  to 
put  upon  his  farm,  which  yields  him  daily  increased  returns 
to  that  labour,  and  increases  daily  in  value.  He  becomes 
rich.  Such  has  been,  so  far  as  it  was  possible,  the  course  of 
the  United  States  ;  and  hence  their  greater  wealth. 


Such  being  the  case,  it  may  be  asked  how  it  happens  that 
several  of  the  States  of  the  Union  have  been  involved  in  so 
much  difficulty  in  regard  to  the  payment  of  interest  on  the  mo- 
ney borrowed  for  the  construction  of  roads  and  canals  ?  The 
cause  is,  we  think,  easily  explained.  The  tendency  of  the 
English  system  has  been  that  of  forcing  manufactures  and 


WEALTH.  123 

trade,  the  consequence  of  which  has  been  that  all  other  na- 
tions have  experienced  a  difficulty  in  concentrating  their 
population  sufficiently  to  enable  them  to  cultivate  the  rich 
soils ;  and  this  in  the  precise  ratio  of  their  intercourse  with 
her.  The  people  of  the  United  States  have  felt  this  in  the 
highest  degree.  They  have  been  forced  to  scatter  themselves 
over  the  west,  that  they  might  raise  food  to  send  abroad  to 
pay  for  clothing ;  and  what  they  needed  was  machinery  of 
exchange  in  the  form  of  roads.  Those  who  did  thus  scatter 
were  poor,  for  they  cultivated  soils  that  yielded  small  returns; 
although  surrounded  by  fertile  soils  covered  with  timber  that 
they  could  not  yet  remove,  or  by  swamps  that  they  were  un- 
able yet  to  drain. 

Pennsylvania  still  to  a  vast  extent  cultivated  poor  soils, 
while  timber  abounded  in  her  river-bottoms :  and  she  still  was 
obliged  to  depend  upon  her  woods  for  fuel  and  fencing, 
while  her  lands  abounded  in  iron  and  coal.  She  had  tried 
to  convert  her  ore  into  iron,  but  had  suffered  heavily  by  un- 
ceasing fluctuations  resulting  from  the  unnatural  state  of 
things  in  England.  She  had  tried  manufactures :  every 
thing,  in  short,  tending  to  bring  the  fashioner  to  the  side 
of  the  producer,  and  thus  diminish  the  cost  of  the  ma- 
chinery of  exchange.  Her  people  were  leaving  the  coal 
and  the  ore,  to  travel  wrest  in  quest  of  other  lands  on  which 
to  raise  more  of  the  already  superabundant  food.  To  get 
this  food  to  market,  or  to  render  the  vast  deposits  of  coal  and 
ore  productive,  roads  and  canals  were  needed :  and  this  was 
the  great  wrant  of  the  whole  country  from  the  Hudson  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Mississippi,  because  the  policy  of 
England  limited  them  to  these  as  their  only  machinery  of 
exchange.  In  this  state  of  things,  commenced  in  that  coun- 
try one  of  her  periodical  overflows  of  capital.  It  had  been 
most  abundant  in  1825,  and  all  the  world  had  been  ruined 
in  I8i6  by  the  excessive  scarcity  consequent  upon  its  waste 
in  the  mines  of  Mexico  and  elsewhere.  It  overflowed  again 
in  1831,  and  the  change  of  that  year  ruined  many,  and 


124  WEALTH. 

rendered  very  many  others  indisposed  to  encounter  the  risks 
of  trade.  In  1833,  it  commenced  again  to  overflow,  the 
reason  for  which  was  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  Legisla- 
ture pertinaciously  refused  to  permit  its  investment  at  home. 
The  Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railroad  had  succeeded,  and 
there  was  a  strong  disposition  to  make  other  roads;  but 
peers  did  not  approve  of  locomotives  running  near  their 
mansions,  and  charters  could  not  be  obtained.  Various  appli- 
cations, therefore,  were  rejected,  after  great  expenditure  by 
the  applicants.  One  of  these  that  we  now  recollect,  the 
Rugby,  spent  .£160,000,  or  $800,000,  in  the  mere  effort  to 
obtain  an  act  of  incorporation,  AND  FAILED.  As  it  could 
not  be  permitted  to  remain  at  home,  capital  sought  a  market 
abroad,  among  the  people  of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Indi- 
ana, and  other  States  south  and  west,  who  desired  to  obtain 
for  themselves  better  machinery  of  exchange  in  the  form  of 
roads,  railroads,  and  canals.  They  had  the  food,  and  it 
could  be  eaten  on  the  ground ;  and  England  was  ready  to 
supply  the  iron  for  the  roads,  and  the  clothing  for  those  who 
were  to  be  employed  in  making  them.  To  work  they  all 
went ;  but  before  the  roads  or  canals  were  so  far  completed 
as  to  be  productive,  the  usual  crash  came.  Capital  became 
so  scarce  in  England  that  the  Bank  was  on  the  eve  of  stop- 
page ;  and  traders  and  manufacturers  were  ruined  by  thou- 
sands. She  now  wanted  to  be  paid ;  but  trade  was  ruined. 
The  downfall  there  had  filled  the  markets  of  the  world  with 
cloths  and  iron,  and  the  manufacturers  and  iron-masters  of 
the  Union  were  ruined  by  events  over  which  they  had  no 
control,  and  against  which  they  could  not  have  guarded. 
Mechanics  and  workmen  of  all  descriptions  were  discharged, 
and  thousands  were  compelled  to  seek  employment  in  agri- 
culture :  and  this  at  the  moment  when  the  market  for  agri- 
cultural products  was  so  over-stocked  that  wheat  scarcely 
paid  the  freight  to  the  Atlantic  cities,  and  corn  wTas  almost 
valueless.  The  half-made  roads  and  canals  produced  nothing, 
and  the  farmers  of  the  States  by  which  they  were  made, 


WEALTH.  125 

could  command  no  money  with  which  to  pay  taxes  by  aid 
of  which  to  meet  the  interest.  Coal  ceased  to  be  mined, 
and  the  canals  upon  which  it  had  been  carried  ceased  to  re- 
ceive tolls  ;  while  those  who  had  invested  their  fortunes  in 
opening  mines  were  ruined.  England  had  destroyed  the 
market  for  corn  at  home,  and  she  would  receive  none :  not  even 
to  feed  her  starving  workmen.  The  interest  ceased  to  be 
paid,  and  then  arose  one  universal  yell  throughout  all  Eng- 
land at  the  dishonesty  of  America:  of  that  America  whom 
she  had  temporarily  ruined.  Time,  however,  rolled  around, 
and  when  corn  could  again  be  sold,  all  gladly  co-operated  in 
the  effort  to  place  the  several  States  in  a  position  to  perform 
their  contracts.  At  the  first  moment  when  such  a  thing  was 
possible,  Pennsylvania,  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  legislators 
elected  by  the  votes  of  every  man  in  the  State,  determined 
that  payment  should  be  resumed,  and  it  was  done  :  and  now 
she  is  reducing  the  principal  of  the  debt.  Maryland  has  fol- 
lowed :  and  Illinois  and  Indiana,  both  of  which  were  occupied 
at  the  time  by  a  very  scattered  population,  are  now  preparing 
to  follow  in  her  footsteps.  A  little  while  hence,  and  all  will 
have  done  so,  and  none  will  feel  so  much  satisfaction  as 
those  who  pay  the  taxes. 

Many  who  have  united  in  the  abuse  of  Pennsylvania  and 
of  other  States,  and  of  Americans  generally,  were,  doubtless, 
ignorant  of  the  cause  of  difficulty ;  and  unaware  that  it  was  to 
the  perpetual  error  of  English  policy,  and  the  perpetual  dis- 
turbance of  which  it  was  the  cause,  that  the  defalcation  on 
that  occasion  was  due :  as  well  as  the  losses  that  on  other 
occasions  had  fallen  on  their  countrymen.  It  may  safely  be 
asserted  that  five-sixths  of  all  the  failures  of  the  Union  in  the 
last  half  century  may  be  traced  to  these  causes.  In  that  period 
we  have  seen  the  revulsions  of  1815, 1819,  1825, 1831, 1836, 
1839,  and  1847,  and  against  such  changes  no  one  could 
guard.  Merchants  and  manufacturers  found  the  markets 
filled  with  commodities  from  abroad,  by  which  their  business 
was  destroyed :  farmers  and  miners  found  their  customers 

11* 


126  WEALTH. 

ruined :  and  perpetual  failure  was  the  result.  In  all  countries 
in  which  peace  has  prevailed,  wealth  has  grown  ;  and  where 
such  has  been  the  case,  the  people  have  always  been  honest : 
and  to  this  America  is  no  exception.  On  the  contrary,  we 
think  it  safe  to  say  that  it  is  the  only  country  in  the  world  in 
which  the  whole  body  of  the  people,  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest :  all  tax  payers :  could  have  been  found  uniting  in  a  de- 
termination that  the  debts  of  the  State  should  be  paid.  Were 
such  a  question  submitted  to  the  whole  people  of  England  or 
of  France,  the  one  might  do  the  same,  though  we  doubt  it : 
but  the  other  assuredly  would  not.  The  security  for  the 
debt  of  Pennsylvania  is  among  the  best  in  the  world ;  for 
those  who  are  to  pay  it  have  resolved  unanimously  that  it 
shall  be  paid. 

The  gradual  diminution  of  the  consciousness  of  right, 
or  power,  on  the  part  of  those  who  administer  the  govern- 
ment towards  the  people,  and  the  increase  in  the  sense 
of  duty  towards  them, that  accompanies  the  growth  of  popu- 
lation and  the  cultivation  of  the  better  soils,  may  be  traced 
in  England  upwards  from  the  closing  of  the  Exchequer 
by  Charles  II.  to  the  latter  years  of  the  last  century,  when  an 
exhausting  war  was  diminishing  the  growth  of  both  wealth 
and  population.  From  that  period,  during  twenty  years, 
the  government  paid  its  debts  in  paper,  sometimes  worth 
but  three-fourths  of  what  the  creditor  had  a  right  to  claim. 
With  peace  came  wealth,  and  an  accelerated  growth  of  popu- 
lation consequent  upon  the  power  of  obtaining  food  in  greater 
abundance ;  and  with  peace  returned  the  feeling  of  obliga- 
tion to  comply  with  contracts:  and,  since  1819,  the  public 
creditor  has  received  his  interest  in  full,  as  he  must  continue 
to  do,  so  long  as  wealth  and  population  shall  increase ; 
and  his  security  will  increase  with  every  application  of 
labour  to  the  development  of  the  vast  resources  contained  in 
the  bowels  of  the  earth  beneath  him ;  for  with  every  such 
application  the  return  to  labour  will  increase,  and  the  neces- 
sity for  armies,  fleets,  and  taxes,  will  decrease. 


WEALTH.  127 

In  France,  perpetually  engaged  in  war  and  in  cultivating 
the  poorer  soils,  there  has  been  little  sense  of  duty,  and  great 
consciousness  of  power  on  the  part  of  the  government ;  and 
hence  her  history  is  one  of  unceasing  failure  in  her  duties  to 
the  public  creditor :  first  in  the  refusal  to  pay  interest,  and 
next  in  the  reduction  or  repudiation  of  the  debt.  The  most 
striking  case,  and  only  so  because  the  largest  in  amount, 
was  that  of  the  regent  Duke  of  Orleans.  A  long  period  of 
comparative  peace  was  accompanied  by  some  increase  of 
wealth  and  population ;  and  the  growing  sense  of  duty  was 
exhibited  in  the  proceedings  of  Necker  and  Turgot ;  but  the 
consciousness  of  power  prevailed,  and  they  were  dismissed. 
The  Revolution  followed,  with  vast  waste  of  treasure  and  of 
life.  The  strong  men  perished  in  the  field,  and  the  old,  the 
young,  and  the  feeble,  combining  their  exertions  with  those 
of  the  weaker  sex,  obtained  a  miserable  subsistence  from  the 
poorer  soils.  The  public  creditor  disappeared.  His  rights 
were  obliterated,  and  thus  power  prevailed  over  duty.  Since 
that  period,  his  rights  have  been  more  or  less  respected ; 
but  the  continuance  of  that  respect  is  dependent  upon  the 
growth  of  population  and  of  wealth.  Some  are  now  converting 
meadows  into  corn  lands,  while  others  are  paying  the  govern- 
ment for  the  privilege  of  abandoning  altogether  their  little 
inheritances.  Whole  departments  are  unable  to  produce  a 
single  horse  for  sale.  Cattle  and  sheep  are  becoming  poorer. 
Should  this  process  long  continue,  the  sense  of  power  may 
prevail  over  that  of  duty,  and  the  public  creditor  may  again 
cease  to  exist. 

If  the  reader  will  now  study  the  history  of  the  public  debt  of 
Spain,  and  mark  the  total  failure  of  the  government  in  the  pay- 
ment of  interest,  at  those  periods  when  her  people  were  largely 
engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  the  distant  soils  of  Mexico  and 
Peru,  Italy  and  the  Netherlands,  and  neglecting  the  richer  soils 
at  their  feet:  of  Austria,  for  a  long  series  of  years :  of  Denmark 
and  of  Holland  :  and,  indeed,  of  every  country  of  the  world : 
he  will  find  that  public  faith  has  grown  with  the  cultivation  of 


128 


WEALTH. 


the  rich  soils,  and  failure  has  followed  their  abandonment : 
and  thus  may  he  acquire  a  standard  absolutely  infallible  for 
testing  the  value  of  every  public  stock.  So  tested,  the  stocks 
of  the  American  States  present  the  best  security  in  the  world, 
and  their  values  vary  among  themselves  precisely  in  the 
ratio  of  the  difference  between  the  soils  they  cultivate.  Mas- 
sachusetts goes  deepest  into  her  hard  soil,  while  Florida  still 
cultivates  the  light  soils,  though  abounding  in  river-bottoms 
and  swamps  that  will  at  some  future  period  afford  great  re- 
turns to  labour.  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio  and  Mary- 
land, Illinois,  Indiana,  Michigan,  and  Mississippi,  now  occupy 
"arious  places  in  the  scale  ;  Lut  all  are  growing  in  wealth  and 
numbers,  and  all  are  gradually  cultivating  better  soils,  and 
all  will  soon  place  themselves  side  by  side  with  the  great 
State,  the  leader  in  American  civilization.* 


The  view  which  we  have  thus  offered  of  the  superiority  of 
the  result  derived  from  labour  employed  in  constructing  the 
machine  for  producing  food,  to  that  derived  from  it-sing  othei 
machines  of  constantly  diminishing  power,  differs  greatly 
from  that  of  the  advocates-of  Mr.  Ricardo's  system.  Thus, 
Mr.  McCulloch  says:  "  There  are  no  limits  to  the  bounty  of 
nature  in  manufactures ;  but  there  are  limits,  and  those  not 
very  remote,,  to  her  bounty  in  agriculture.  The  greatest 
possible  amount  of  capital  might  be  expended  in  the  con- 
struction of  steam-engines,  or  of  any  other  sort  of  machinery ; 
and  after  they  had  been  multiplied  indefinitely,  the  last  would 
be  as  powerful  and  efficient  in  producing  commodities  and 
saving  labour  as  the  first.  Such,  however,  is  not  the  case 
with  the  soil.  Lands  of  the  first  quality  are  speedily  ex- 
hausted ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  apply  capital  indefinitely 
even  to  the  best  soils,  without  obtaining  from  it  a  constantly 
diminishing  rate  of  profit."  All  this  might  be  true  if  man  did 

*  "  The  civilization  of  New  England  has  been  like  a  beacon  lit  upon  a  hill 
which,  after  it  has  diffused  its  warmth  around,  tinges  the  distant  horizon  with 
its  glow." — De  Tocqueville. 


WEALTH.  129 

speedily  exhaust  the  best  soils  ;  but,  as  he  is  always  going  from 
a  poor  soil  to  a  better,  and  then  returning  on  his  footsteps  to  the 
original  poor  one,  and  turning  up  the  marl  or  the  lime  ;  and  so 
on,  in  continued  succession :  and  as  he  has  done  so  in  every  na- 
tion of  the  world  where  population  and  wealth  have  been  per- 
mitted to  increase :  and  as,  at  each  step  in  this  course,  he  is 
making  a  better  machine  :  the  converse  of  Mr.  McCulloch's 
proposition  may  prove  to  be  true.  It  is  held  that  there  are  no 
limits  to  the  capital  that  may  be  profitably  expended  in  en- 
gines, because  all  are  equal  to  the  first ;  but  that  there  are  limits 
to  that  which  may  be  employed  in  agriculture,  because,  the 
last  is  necessarily  inferior  to  the  first.  If,  however,  the  last 
agricultural  machine  be  always,  as  it  always  is,  superior  to 
the  previous  ones :  then  capital  may  be  invested  in  agricul- 
ture with  more  advantage  than  in  engines,  because  the  last 
are  only  of  equal,  whereas  the  other  is  of  superior,  pcnver. 

A  steam-engine  produces  nothing.  It  diminishes  the  labour 
required  for  converting  wool  into  cloth,  or  grain  into  flour :  for 
freeing  mines  from  water :  or  for  transporting  wool,  or  grain, 
or  coal.  The  gain  from  its  use  is  the  wages  of  that  labour, 
minus  the  loss  by  deterioration  of  the  machine.  Labour  ap- 
plied to  fashioning  the  earth  produces  wages,  plus  the  gain 
by  improvement  of  the  machine.  The  more  an  engine  can 
be  made  to  yield  the  worse  it  will  become.  The  more  the 
earth  can  be  made  to  yield  the  better  will  it  become.  The 
man  who  neglects  his  farm  to  employ  himself  and  his  engine 
in  the  work  of  fashioning  or  exchanging  the  products  of  other 
farms,  obtains  wages,  minus  loss  of  capital.  He  who  em- 
ploys himself  on  his  own  farm  obtains  wages,  plus  profits  re- 
sulting from  the  improvement  of  the  farm,  to  the  extent  that 
that  improvement  exceeds  the  loss  from  the  deterioration  of 
the  spades,  ploughs,  engines,  or  other  machinery  that  is  used. 

To  test  the  correctness  of  this  view,  we  submit  two  cases  to 
the  consideration  of  the  reader.  A.  and  B.  have  each  a  horse 
and  cart,  and  a  farm  from  which  they  can  have  three  hun- 
dred bushels  of  wheat :  or  its  equivalent.  An  offer  is  made 
to  give  them  each  that  quantity,  but  the  distance  is  so 


130  WEALTH. 

great  that  the  hauling  will  occupy  precisely  the  same  time 
as  the  raising  would  do.  A.  accepts,  and  B.  does  not.  A. 
spends  his  time,  and  that  of  his  horse  and  cart,  on  the  road. 
B.  stays  at  home.  When  it  rains,  A.  stops  in  the  road-side 
tavern.  B.  spends  the  same  day  at  home,  repairing  his  house. 
When  A.'s  horse  feeds  and  rests,  his  master  has  nothing  to 
do.  B.  grubs  up  an  old  root,  or  repairs  a  fence.  A.'s  horse 
deposits  his  manure  in  the  road.  That  of  B.  goes  on  his 
farm.  A.'s  horse  hauls  every  day,  and  the  service  performed, 
nothing  remains.  B.  opens  a  marl  pit,  and  puts  on  his  land 
manure  for  two  or  three  years.  At  the  end  of  the  year  A.'s 
horse  and  cart  are  worn  out,  while  B.'s  are  almost  as  good 
as  new.  The  farm  of  A.  has  deteriorated,  while  that  of  B. 
is  greatly  improved.  -Both  have  done  the  same  number  of 
days'  work,  and  both  have  received  the  same  compensation, 
yet  A.  is  poorer  and  B.  richer  than  at  first.  Every  diminu- 
tion in  the  quantity  required  of  the  machinery  of  exchange 
tends  to  increase  the  quantity  of  labour,  both  of  body  and 
mind,  that  may  be  applied  directly  to  production:  and  such 
labour  is  rewarded  with  an  increased  return,  and  an  increase 
in  the  powers  of  the  machine  itself.  Such  has  been  the  case 
in  all  time  past,  and  such  will  it  ever  continue  to  be. 

It  is  by  this  almost  insensible  contribution  of  labour  that 
land  acquires  value.  The  first  object  of  the  poor  cultivator 
of  the  thin  soils  is  to  obtain  food  and  clothing  for  himself 
and  his  family.  His  leisure  is  given  to  the  work  of  improve- 
ment. At  one  place  he  cuts  a  little  drain,  and  at  another 
he  roots  out  a  stump.  At  one  moment  he  cuts  fuel  for  his 
family,  and  thus  clears  his  land ;  and  at  another  digs  a  well 
to  facilitate  the  watering  of  his  cattle,  and  thus  keep  his 
manure  in  the  stable  yard.  He  knows  that  the  machine  will 
feed  him  better  the  more  perfectly  he  fashions  it,  and  that 
there  is  always  place  for  his  time  and  his  labour  to  be  ex- 
pended with  advantage  to  himself. 

A  piece  of  land  that  yields  .£100  per  annum  will  sell  for 
.£3000.  A  steam  engine  that  will  produce  the  same,  will 
scarcely  command  ,£1000.  Why  should  this  difference 


WEALTH.  131 

exist  ?  It  is  because  the  buyer  of  the  first  knows  that  it 
will  pay  him  wages  anjl  interest,  plus  the  increase  of  its 
value  by  use.  The  buyer  of  the  other  knows  that  it  will  give 
him  wages  and  interest,  minus  the  diminution  in  its  value  by 
use.  The  one  takes  three  and  a  third  per  cent., plus  the  differ- 
ence :  the  other  ten,  minus  the  difference.  The  one  buys  a 
machine  that  improves  by  use.  The  other,  one  that  deterio- 
rates with  use.  The  one  is  buying  a  machine  produced  by 
the  labour  of  past  times,  and  to  the  creation  of  which  has 
been  applied  all  the  spare  time  of  a  series  of  generations : 
and  he  gives  for  it  one-third  or  one-half  of  the  labour  that 
would  be  now  required  to  produce  it  in  its  present  state,  were 
it  reduced  to  its  original  one.  That  of  the  other  is  bought 
at  the  actual  price  of  the  labour  that  it  has  cost.  The  one 
is  a  machine  upon  which  new  capital  and  labour  may  be 
expended  with  constantly  increasing  return  ;  while  upon  the 
other  no  such  expenditure  can  be  made.  We  have  now 
before  us  an  account  of  the  operations  at  Knowsley,  where 
an  expenditure  of  <£7,  105.  per  acre  for  draining  has  been 
rewarded  by  an  increase  of  205.  in  rent,  or  more  than 
thirteen  per  cent.  In  another  case,  where  land  had  been 
abandoned  as  totally  worthless,  labour  to  the  amount  of  40s. 
per  acre  has  been  attended  with  a  gain  of  105.  per  acre 
to  the  owner,  and  105.  to  the  tenant,  making  fifty  per  cent, 
per  annum  :  without  taking  into  consideration  the  gain  to  the 
labourer  in  the  increased  facility  of  procuring  the  necessa- 
ries of  life.  Lord  Stanley,  who  furnishes  this  statement, 
says,  and  we  are  sure  most  truly,  that  although  he  and  his 
father  have  for  several  years  laid  a  million  of  tiles  per 
annum,  they  feel  that  they  had  only  made  a  beginning.*  We 
believe  that  they  have,  even  yet,  scarcely  begun  to  think  upon 
the  subject.  They  are  only  beginning  to  waken  up.  We 
have  also  before  us  an  account  of  a  field  so  completely  worn 


*  Thirty  years*  since,  all  the  tiles  laid  in  the  United  Kingdom  amounted  to 
but  seventy-one  millions  per  annum. 


132  WEALTH. 

out  that  it  produced,  with  manure,  but  five  hundred  weight 
of  turnips,  but  which,  by  being  treated  with  sulphuric  acid 
and  bones,  was  made  to  yield  two  hundred  and  eighty-fire 
hundred  weight ;  and  another,  which  gave  to  coal  ashes  and 
coal  Just  but  eighty-eight  hundred  weight,  gave  to  the  acid 
and  bones,  two  hundred  and  fifty-one  hundred  weight.  Such 
profits  are  not  to  be  found  in  any  other  pursuit:  and  yet 
England  has  been  wasting  her  energies  on  ships,  colonies, 
and  commerce,  having  at  her  feet  an  inexhaustible  magazine 
asking  only  to  be  worked. 

The  improvement  above  described  is  remarkable,  only  be- 
cause concentrated  within  a  short  space  of  time.  Had  the 
land  described  by  Lord  Stanley  been  cultivated  by  the  owner, 
and  had  he  felt  that  agriculture  was  a  science  worthy  of  his 
attention ;  the  drainage  would  have  taken  place  gradually, 
and  the  improvement  would  have  been  marked  by  a  gradual 
growth  in  the  power  to  pay  better  wages  and  more  rent.  We 
have  before  us  a  notice  of  land  rented  for  nine  hundred 
pounds,  at  the  close  of  a  long  lease  at  one  hundred  and  thirty 
pounds.  During  all  this  time,  its  owner  has  had  interest  on 
his  capital,  and  at  the  close  of  the  lease,  his  capital  has  in- 
creased seven  times.  His  investment  was  better  than  it 
would  have  been  in  steam-engines  at  ten  per  cent.,  because 
his  engineer  paid  him  for  the  privilege  of  building  up  his  ma- 
chine :  whereas,  the  steam-engineer  would  have  required  to 
be  paid  while  wearing  the  machine  out.  Everybody  is  con- 
tent with  small  interest,  and  sometimes  with  no  interest, 
from  land,  where  population  and  wealth  are  rapidly  growing, 
because  there  capital  is  steadily  augmenting  without  effort. 
The  house  in  which  we  write  has  greatly  augmented 
in  value,  while  we  have  had  interest  in  the  use  of  it.  In- 
stead of  six  per  cent.,  we  have  twenty  per  cent.,  and  this  is 
the  experience  of  all  men  who  own  landed  property  where 
population  and  wealth  are  permitted  to  increase  :  for  they  will 
always  increase  if  not  prevented  by  interferences  like  those 
which  have  existed  in  England,  and  to  a  still  greater  ex- 


WEALTH.  133 

tent  in  France.  The  great  pursuit  of  man  is  agriculture. 
There  is  none  "  in  which  so  many  of  the  laws  of  nature  must 
be  consulted  and  understood  as  in  the  cultivation  of  the  earth. 
Every  change  of  the  season,  every  change  even  of  the  winds, 
every  fall  of  rain,  must  affect  some  of  the  manifold  'opera- 
tions of  the  farmer.  In  the  improvement  of  our  various  do- 
mestic animals,  some  of  the  most  abstruse  principles  of  phy- 
siology must  be  consulted.  Is  it  to  be  supposed  that  men 
thus  called  upon  to  study,  or  to  observe  the  laws  of  nature, 
and  labour  in  conjunction  with  its  powers,  require  less  of  the 
light  of  the  highest  science  than  the  merchant  or  the  manu- 
facturer ?"*  It  is  not.  It  is  the  science  that  requires  the 
greatest  knowledge,  and  the  one  that  pays  best  for  it:  and  yet 
England  has  driven  man,  and  wealth,  and  mind,  into  the  less 
profitable  pursuits  of  fashioning  and  exchanging  the  products 
of  other  lands :  and  has  expended  thousands  of  millions  on 
fleets  and  armies  to  enable  her  to  drive  with  foreign  nations 
the  poor  trade :  when  her  own  soil  offered  her  the  richer  one 
that  tends  to  produce  that  increase  of  wealth  and  concentration 
of  population  which  have  in  all  times  and  in  all  ages  given 
the  self-protective  power  that  requires  neither  fleets,  nor 
armies,  nor  tax-gatherers.  In  her  efforts  to  force  this  trade, 
she  has  driven  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  extend 
themselves  over  vast  tracts  of  inferior  land  when  they  might 
more  advantageously  have  concentrated  themselves  on  rich 
ones :  and  she  has  thus  delayed  the  progress  of  civilization 
abroad  and  at  home.  She  has  made  it  necessary  for  the 
people  of  grain-growing  countries  to  rejoice  in  the  deficien- . 
cies  of  her  harvests,  as  affording  them  the  outlet  for  surplus 
food  that  they  could  not  consume,  and  that  was  sometimes 
abandoned  on  the  field,  as  not  worth  the  cost  of  harvesting ; 
instead  of  being  enabled  to  rejoice  in  the  knowledge  that 
others  were  likely  to  be  fed  as  abundantly  as  themselves.  Her 
internal  system  was  unsound,  and  her  wealth  gave  her  power 


*  Wadsworth's  address  to  the  New  York  Agricultural  Society. 

12 


134  ,  WEALTH. 

to  make  that  unsoundness  a  cause  of  disturbance  to  the 
world :  and  hence  she  has  appeared  to  be  everywhere  re- 
garded as  a  sort  of  common  enemy.  The  tendency  of  her 
navigation  laws  was  greatly  to  increase  the  quantity  required 
of  the  machinery  of  exchange :  and  the  resistance  thereto 
was  an  instinctive  effort  at  self-protection.  That  resistance 
was  led  by  the  United  States.  American  ships  were  not 
permitted  to  do  what  English  ships  might,  and  they  therefore 
rendered  it  impossible  for  English  ships  to  do  certain  things 
that  American  ships  might  do.  For  a  brief  time  English 
ships  came  in  ballast  and  went  home  loaded,  and  American 
ships  went  to  England  in  ballast  and  brought  home  cargoes : 
and  thus  two  ships  were  doing  the  work  of  one.  The  result 
was,  that  all  were  put  upon  a  footing,  and  the  quantity  required 
of  the  machinery  of  exchange  was  so  far  diminished  that 
exchanges  were  performed  with  far  less  labour  than  before ; 
the  consequence  of  which  has  been  that  exchanges  have  in- 
creased greatly  in  number,  while  the  loss  by  friction :  or  the 
cost  of  exchanging:  has  fallen,  and  the  work  is  better  done.* 
It  would  seem  as  if  the  general  resistance  to  English  ship- 
ping and  manufactures  had  been  the  necessary  effort  for  the 
establishment  of  perfect  freedom  of  trade,  and  for  securing 
to  the  world  at  large,  eventually,  the  most  perfect  efficiency 
of  exchange:  while  reducing  the  quantity  of  machinery  re- 
quired for  the  purpose.  England  could  produce  food  and 
machinery  at  less  cost  of  labour  than  any  other  country  of 
the  world,  and  every  step  in  that  direction  would  have  tended 
to  render  production  more  and  more  easy.  Other  countries 
wanted  machinery  to  enable  them  to  concentrate  their  popu- 
lation and  to  consume  their  food  at  home.  She  refused  ma- 


*  «  Various  devices  were  fallen  upon  to  counteract  the  navigation  system 
of  the  Americans,  without  in  any  degree  relaxing  our  own  :  but  they  all  failed 
of  their  object ;  and  at  length  it  became  obvious  to  every  one  that  we  had  en- 
gaged in  an  unequal  struggle,  and  that  the  real  effect  of  our  policy  was  to  give 
u  bounty  on  the  importation  of  the  manufactured  goods  of  other  countries  into 
the  Untied  States,  and  thus  gradually  to  exclude  our  manufactures  and  our 
shipping  from  the  ports  of  the  republic." — McCulloch. 


WEALTH.  135 

chinery,  and  sent  cotton  and  woollen  goods  which  they  would 
have  preferred  to  make  ;  and  she  fixed  her  prices  high  or 
low,  as  suited  her  own  convenience :  the  result  of  which  was, 
that  with  each  successive  effort  they  were  ruined.  So  with 
ships.  Sometimes  she  would  furnish  them  at  low  prices,  and 
at  other  times  they  were  high.  If  she  was  at  peace  she  had 
ships  to  spare.  If  at  war,  they  were  scarce,  and  freights 
were  high.  The  whole  system  of  that  country,  in  past  times, 
has  been  marked  by  a  desire  to  force  her  own  capital  and 
labour  off  in  a  wrong  direction:  from  the  profitable  to  the  un- 
profitable :  and  every  step  she  is  now  making  exhibits  a  ten- 
dency in  the  right  one.  Wiser  grown,  she  now  looks  to 
home,  and  is  experiencing,  at  every  turn,  the  wonderful 
effect  of  self-cultivation.  She  is  investing  vast  wealth  in 
railroads,  but  it  grows  with  the  expenditure ;  for  she  is  now 
building  up  the  great  machine  to  produce  food  and  raw  ma- 
terials of  every  description  for  which  her  climate  is  suited. 
She  is  expending,  as  we  believe,  an  equal  amount  of  labour 
in  draining  and  clearing  lands ;  but  her  wealth  grows  with 
every  step  in  this  direction,  for  the  great  machine  is  producing 
the  food  and  the  clothing  that  are  used  in  building  it.  While 
pursuing  agriculture  with  a  spirit  heretofore  unknown,  she  is 
furnishing  machinery  to  almost  all  Europe :  a  consequence  of 
all  of  which  is  that  her  exports  of  cotton  goods  are  no  longer 
what  they  were.  Every  steam-engine  she  sends  to  the  con- 
tinent tends  to  produce  a  demand  for  railroad  iron ;  and 
every  railroad  makes  demands  for  engines,  and  for  finer  com- 
modities in  lieu  of  the  coarser  ones  she  was  before  accus- 
tomed to  export.  Every  new  soil  that  is  improved  at  home 
tends  to  produce  a  demand  for  engines,  and  every  engine 
tends  to  increase  the  power  of  producing  new  and  better  soils.  / 
The  interests  of  all  are  ultimately  to  be  promoted  by  perfect 
freedota  of  trade,  and  such  has  always  been  the  case :  but 
the  persistence  by  a  nation  so  wealthy  as  England  in  a  course 
sTTadverse  to  the  growth  of  civilization  at  home  and  abroad, 
tended  to  produce  discords  calculated  to  render  its  establish- 


136  WEALTH. 

ment  absolutely  impossible,  and  a  long  time  may  yet  be  re- 
quired for  its  accomplishment. 

The  PAST  says  to  the  landlord  of  the  PRESENT  :  "I  have 
erred.  I  have  driven  labour  and  capital  from  the  soil,  to  be 
wasted  on  armies,  and  fleets,  and  colonies.  Your  lands  are 
far  less  valuable  than  they  might  have  been  made,  and 
your  children  are  forced  to  seek  employment  abroad,  when 
they  might  be  more  prosperous  and  happy  at  home.  Take 
warning  by  my  example.  Avoid  war,  and  preparations  for 
war,  and  your  wealth  will  rapidly  increase." 

To  the  labourer  it  says:  "I  have  erred,  and  you  have 
suffered.  Food  has  been  high,  and  wages  low.  Labour  to 
prevent  war,  and  preparations  for  war.  Your  wages  will 
then  increase,  and  you  will  acquire  power  over  your  own  ac- 
tions, and  may  stay  at  home." 

To  the  manufacturer  it  says  :  "  I  Jiave  forced  labour  and 
capital  into  trade  and  manufactures,  and  the  result  has  been 
universal  unsteadiness.  Study  to  promote  economy  and  the 
growth  of  a  home  market,  which  will  be  more  steady  and  more 
profitable  than  any  foreign  ones.  The  people  abroad  who  eat 
their  own  food  and  make  their  own  coarse  clothing,  will  be 
better  customers  than  they  are  now ;  for  when  you  shall  have 
ceased  to  disturb  the  world,  you  will  see  perfect  freedom  and 
perfect  steadiness  of  trade." 

To  all  it  says:  "  Labour  to  acquire  power  over  the  land 
that  has  been  given  to  you,  and  with  each  step  the  feeling 
of  necessity  will  diminish ;  while  with  each  the  conscious- 
ness of  power  over  yourselves,  your  feelings,  thoughts,  and 
actions,  will  increase." 


WEALTH    AND    LAND.  137 


CHAPTER  IV. 

WEALTH     AND     LAND. 

THE  first  cultivator  occupies  such  spots  as  his  small  means 
will  permit  him  to  use.  He  has  yet  acquired  no  power  to 
compel  the  land  to  yield  him  what  is  needed  for  his  comfort- 
able subsistence.  With  the  acquisition  of  the  spade  he  turns 
under,  and  thus  expels,  the  wild  grass :  substituting  for  it 
the  oats,  or  the  barley,  or  the  rye,  as  he  deems  one  or  the 
other  best  fitted  for  his  purpose.  In  the  outset  he  requires 
much  land,  because  but  small  portions  can  be  made  to  yield 
to  his  demands  any  return  whatsoever.  With  the  growth  of 
his  wealth :  with  the  acquisition  of  axes  and  ploughs :  other 
portions,  however,  become  productive ;  and,  by  degrees,  he 
finds,  on  a  few  acres,  more  continuous  employment  for  his 
time  than,  in  the  outset,  was  found  upon  a  thousand.  His 
family,  too,  has  grown.  If  all  continue  to  cultivate  the 
whole  quantity,  there  will  be  great  waste  of  labour.  The 
territory  he  has  occupied  covers  several  square  miles ;  and 
the  time  required  to  walk  to  and  from  their  work  will  be  so 
much  deduction  from  that  which  should  be  given  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  soil,  or  of  their  own  physical  and  mental  powers. 
Each  takes  his  share,  and  each  builds  himself  a  house.  Each 
cultivates  his  own  land ;  and  each  calls  upon  his  brothers 
for  aid  in  harvest:  or  in  building  a  barn:  or  rolling  logs:  or 
quarrying  stone.  All  are  separate,  but  all  are  therefore  inte- 
rested in  making  roads  by  which  all  may  be  enabled  to 
unite.  While'  all  lived  in  the  same  house,  their  labours  were 
wasted  in  bringing  home  the  fruits  of  the  field,  and  they  had 
no  leisure  for  making  roads.  Now  that  all  work  separately ; 
that  each  man  eats  on  his  own  land  the  rye  or  the  oats  needed 

12* 


138  WEALTH    AND    LAND. 

for  his  support ;  each  feels  more  and  more  the  advantage  to 
be  derived  from  increasing  the  facility  of  obtaining  the  aid 
that  may  be  required  :  and  thus  the  division  of  land  conse- 
quent upon  the  increase  of  wealth  in  the  form  of  spades  and 
axes,  tends  to  produce  increase  of  wealth  in  the  form  of  roads  : 
thus  increasing  the  power  of  union,  while  diminishing  the 
necessity  therefor.  Each  labours  on  his  own  land,  and  each 
labours  faithfully,  because  labouring  for  himself.  Each  makes, 
or  procures  from  elsewhere,  some  machine  calculated  to  in- 
crease the  powers  of  himself  and  his  neighbour;  and  all  com- 
bine, at  times,  to  procure  those  things  which,  important  to 
all,  are  beyond  the  means  of  any. 

If  we  look  to  Attica  in  the  days  of  her  prosperity,  we  see 
a  tendency  to  the  division  of  land,  and  the  union  of  men. 
If  we  look  to  her  in  the  days  of  her  lowest  poverty,  we  see 
Herodes  Atticus  universal  proprietor,  and  universal  builder, 
while  union  among  men  has  ceased  to  exist.  If  we  look  to 
Rome  in  the  days  of  Servius,  we  see  a  vast  body  of  small 
proprietors  enriching  themselves  by  the  cultivation  of  their 
own  land.  If  we  look  again,  we  see  universal  poverty :  the 
numerous  little  and  prosperous  proprietors  being  replaced  by 
Scipios  and  Pompeys,  owning  vast  tracts  and  overwhelmed 
by  debts,  while  disunited  men  have  become  slaves.  So, 
again,  if  we  look  to  Gaul,  or  Africa.  Everywhere  throughout 
the  world,  the  tendency  to  division  of  land  and  combination 
of  action  among  men  has  grown  with  the  growth  of  wealth : 
while  poverty  has  produced  its  concentration  in  the  hands  of 
a  few  proprietors,  and  disunion  among  its  occupants.  We  see 
this  now  exhibited  on  a  large  scale  in  the  south  of  Spain,  where 
a  few  grandees  have  replaced  the  honest,  industrious,  and  en- 
lightened Moors,  who  combined  their  exertions  for  bringing 
into  activity  the  best  soils  of  their  own  land,  and  for  fashioning 
their  products :  thereby  enriching  their  country  and  themselves. 

The  great  business  of  mankind  is  the  production  of  food, 
and  the  raw  materials  of  commodities  and  things  necessary 
to  Enable  man  to  enjoy  the  conveniences,  comforts,  or  lux- 


WEALTH    AND    LAND.  139 

uries  of  life.  That  he  may  do  this,  the  Deity  has  given  him 
the  command  of  a  great  laboratory,  in  which  exist  all  the 
elements  of  production,  waiting  only  the  application  of  the 
physical  and  mental  powers  with  which  he  has  been  en- 
dowed, to  render  them  available  for  his  purpose.  The  gift 
was  accompanied  with  the  command  to  labour,  that  he 
might  have  food  for  himself  and  his  children :  to  labour, 
that  he  might  have  clothing  and  shelter :  to  labour,  that  he 
might  acquire  knowledge :  to  labour,  that  he  might  enjoy 
leisure  and  repose.  It  is  a  great  workshop,  in  which  com- 
bination of  effort  yields  largely,  but  can.  scarcely  have  ex- 
istence when  men  cultivate  the  poor  soils.  To  combination 
division  is  essential,  and  where  that  does  not  exist,  the  pro- 
gress of  cultivation  is  always  slow.  Hence  the  wretched  con- 
dition of  all  commons,  and  of  all  lands  upon  which  exists  the 
partial  right  of  common,  as  on  most  of  those  of  France,  under 
the  system  of  vaine  pature.  Starting  from  the  point  of  abso- 
lute barbarism,  when  all  land  is  held  in  common,  it  will  be 
found  that  the  cultivation  improves  with  every  approach  to- 
wards absolute  ownership.  Thus,  it  is  better  now  in  every 
part  of  England  than  in  any  part  in  the  days  when  men 
were  serfs,  and  had  in  land  no  property  whatsoever.  It  is 
better  where  short  leases  exist  than  where  all  are  tenants 
at  will.  It  is  better  where  long  leases  exist  than  where  they 
are  short,  and  the  highest  cultivation  is  invariably  found 
where  the  owner  and  occupant  are  one  and  the  same,  and 
where  there  exists  every  inducement  to  the  most  perfect 
economy  of  time  and  labour.  Thus  it  is  better  in  Cumber- 
land, where  heads  of  families  are  generally  proprietors  of  a 
few  acres,  than  in  Wilts  or  Dorset,  where  it  is  held  in  large 
masses,  and  cultivated  by  hired  labourers.  This  may  again 
be  seen  in  the  high  cultivation  of  the  peasant  proprietors  of 
the  valley  of  the  Arno  ;  in  the  rich  fields  and  the  neat  and 
comfortable  houses  of  the  small  landholders  of  Belgium  ; 
and  in  the  high'  prosperity  of  the  same  class  in  Norway. 
The  division  of  land,  and  its  cultivation  by  the  owner  for  his 


140  WEALTH    AND    LAND. 

own  profit,  are  the  necessary  consequences  of  the  growth  of 
wealth;  and  with  each  step  in  this  direction  agriculture 
becomes  more  and  more  a  science,  furnishing  employment 
for  minds  of  the  highest  order,  and  yielding  the  largest  re- 
turns to  their  exertions.  It  ceases  to  be  the  labour  of  the 
slave,  and  becomes  the  refined  and  elegant  occupation  of 
the  gentleman,  who  gives  to  the  direction  of  a  small  estate 
all  his  faculties,  and  obtains  a  liberal  reward  for  permitting  a 
portion  of  its  proceeds  to  be  applied  to  its  improvement; 
while  to  those  who  execute  with  their  hands  what  he  plans 
with  his  head,  large  wages  are  afforded :  and  he  finds  in 
this  employment  greater  happiness  than  was  enjoyed  by 
those  of  his  predecessors  whose  thousands  of  acres  were 
scratched  by  serfs  to  enable  them  to  pay  the  ransom  to  his 
captor  on  the  field  of  battle. 

Such  is  the  tendency  of  things  when  wealth  and  popula- 
tion grow.  War  and  waste  produce  a  reverse  effect,, and 
land  concentrates  itself  in  fewer  hands.  Hence  it  is  that  the 
age  of  barbarism,  dignified  with  the  title  of  that  of  the  Feudal 
System,  has  been  seen  to  inflict  upon  the  world  the  right  of 
primogeniture,  another  of  the  weak  inventions  by  which  man 
endeavours  to  set  aside  the  great  laws  of  nature  :  but  over 
which  she  invariably  triumphs  when  men  remain  at  peace. 
The  views  of  M.  de  Tocqueville  in  this  respect  are  widely 
different.  He  says : 

"  When  the  legislator  has  once  regulated  the  law  of  in- 
heritance, he  may  rest  from  his  labour.  The  machine  once 
put  in  motion  will  go  on  for  ages,  and  advance,  as  if  self- 
guided,  to  a  certain  point.  When  framed  in  a  particular 
manner,  this  law  unites,  draws  together,  and  vests  property 
in  a  few  hands — its  tendency  is  clearly  aristocratic.  On 
opposite  principles  its  action  is  still  more  rapid :  it  divides, 
distributes,  and  disperses  both  property  and  power.  Alarmed 
by  the  rapidity  of  its  progress,  those  who  despair  of  arresting 
its  motion,  endeavour  to  obstruct  it  by  difficulties  and  impe- 
diments :  they  vainly  seek  to  counteract  its  effect  by  con- 


WEALTH  AND    LAND.  141 

trary  efforts :  but  it  gradually  reduces  or  destroys  every  ob- 
stacle, until  by  its  unceasing  activity,  the  bulwarks  of  the 
influence  of  wealth  are  ground  down  to  the  fine  and  shifting 
sand  which  is  the  basis  of  democracy." 

In  no  part  of  Europe  has  the  law  of  primogeniture  been 
more  firmly  established  than  in  England  ;  yet  in  none  in 
which  it  has  existed  has  there  been  seen  a  stronger  tendency 
to  the  division  of  land,  as  has  been  shown  by  the  nume- 
rous shifts  and  contrivances  invented  to  bar  entails,  and  to 
remove  other  obstacles  to  the  division  and  sale  of  landed 
property :  the  result  of  which  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  she 
possesses  now  more  than  200,000  proprietors.  Down  to  the 
commencement  of  the  recent  great  war,  such  was  the  inva- 
riable tendency ;  but  during  the  period  of  its  continuance 
the  poverty  of  the  people  and  consolidation  of  land  returned 
together.  The  few  became  greater,  and  the  many  smaller  ; 
and  had  the  war  been  continued  on  the  same  scale  for 
another  period  of  twenty  years,  that  country  might  have  ex- 
hibited to  the  world  princes  like  those  of  Esterhazy,  wearing 
coats  covered  with  diamonds  and  surrounded  by  serfs  in  rags. 
With  the  long-continued  peace,  a  different  state  of  things  is 
gradually  arising.  Mechanics  are  purchasing  freeholds,  and 
landlords  are  forming  cottage  allotments  ;  a  small  beginning, 
it  is  true,  but  one  that  shows  the  tendency  of  the  time. 
Tenants  are  claiming  longer  leases,  and  landlords  are  begin- 
ning-to  perceive  that  short  leases  and  large  rents  cannot 
exist  together.  They  themselves  have  already  taken  a  per- 
petual lease,  at  a  fixed  rent,  from  the  Church.  Tenants  are 
now  claiming  of  them  the  right  to  be  paid  for  their  improve- 
ments, perhaps  the  first  step  towards  perpetual  leases,  and 
eventual  proprietorship.  Each  step  in  this  direction  is  but 
the  preparation  for  a  new  one.  Railroads  raise  wages. 
Drainage  raises  wages  for  labourer  and  tenant,  and  both 
acquire  the  desire  to  cultivate  their  own  land  for  their  own 
profit.  With  each  such  step  the  proportion  of  the  owner 
decreases,  although  his  quantity  of  rent  increases :  and  with 


142  WEALTH    AND    LAND. 

each  there  is  a  tendency  to  a  rise  in  the  standard  of  living, 
and  to  equality  of  condition.  The  ability  of  the  non-labourer  to 
hold  large  tracts  of  land  becomes  less  when  compared  with 
the  ability  of  the  labourer  to  buy  it :  while  the  inducement 
to  the  latter  to  obtain  a  piece  of  land  that  he  can  cultivate 
after  his  own  fashion,  tends  daily  to  increase.  The  wages  of 
skill  and  knowledge  have  risen  :  and  the  reward  of  mere  wealth 
has  failed,  and  must  necessarily  fail,  to  keep  pace  therewith. 
The  great  proprietor  must  work.  He  now  does  work,  and  he 
finds  in  the  enjoyment  of  occasional  leisure  that  happiness 
which  a  life  of  idleness  and  ennui  had  failed  to  afford.  It  is,  we 
think,  impossible  to  look  to  any  part  of  England  without  see- 
ing this  operation  either  commenced,  or  about  to  commence. 
In  some  portions  of  it,  every  acre  of  land  has  been  sold 
within  the  memory  of  persons  now  living.  In  the  north, 
where  wealth  grows  rapidly,  and  the  best  soils  are  cultivated, 
the  tendency  to  division  is  greater  than  in  the  south :  and  it 
is  far  greater  in  the  neighbourhoods  of  rapidly-advancing 
Liverpool  and  Manchester,  than  in  those  of  declining  Win- 
chester and  Bristol.  In  the  one  direction  we  see  a  daily 
increasing  tendency  towards  harmony  and  union  between 
the  owner  of  the  land  and  the  man  who  cultivates  it :  while 
in  the  other  we  see  universal  discord  and  disunion,  marked  by 
perpetual  barn-burnings,  poaching,  Rebecca-riots,  and  trials 
for  arson  and  for  violations  of  the  game  laws :  all  tending  to 
show  a  very  demoralized  condition  of  society.  When  wealth 
grows,  men  unite,  morally  and  physically  :  and  the  more  they 
tend  to  unite,  the  faster  it  grows,  and  the  greater  is  the  ten- 
dency towards  division  of  land.  When  wealth  diminishes 
and  population  declines,  it  invariably  concentrates  itself  in 
fewer  hands. 

In  France,  always  at  war,  wealth  could  not  grow.  Men 
cultivated  the  poor  soils,  with  the  worst  instruments.  Pro- 
perty concentrated  itself  in  the  hands  of  the  church  and  the 
great  nobles.  The  Revolution  came,  and  it  annihilated  both. 
To  prevent  the  future  concentration  of  land,  it  was  enacted 


WEALTH    AND   LAND.  143 

that  at  the  death  of  the  owner  it  should  be  divided  among  his 
children,  excepting,  however,  a  very  small  share  that  he 
might,  if  he  thought  proper,  bequeath  beyond  the  limits  of 
his  family.  The  confiscation  was  bad.  It  was  a  violation 
of  the  rights  of  property,  and  such  measures  are  always 
bad :  always  impolitic  :  because  nature  remedies  all  griev- 
ances, when  permitted  to  act.  It  was,  however,  done,  and 
nothing  now  was  needed  but  to  permit  labour  to  be  applied 
to  compelling  the  land  to  yield  up  its  rich  treasures,  and  thus 
to  cause  wealth  to  grow :  and  that  wealth  would  have  been  ap- 
plied to  the  further  improvement  of  the  land,  increasing  the 
product  and  enabling  a  constantly  increasing  population  to  ob- 
tain larger  supplies  of  food  in  return  to  the  labour  employed  in 
producing,  and  in  fashioning.,  on  the  ground  and  in  direct 
contact  with  the  producer,  the  various  products  of  the  soil. 

Such,  however,  was  not  the  policy  of  the  rulers,  or  of  the 
gentlemen,  of  France.  They  preferred  Italy,  Germany, 
Spain,  and  even  Russia,  to  their  own  soil,  and  they  exhausted 
the  population  and  the  wealth  of  the  Empire,  in  vain  endea- 
vours to  obtain  from  abroad  what  at  home  nature  courted 
them  to  accept.  With  the  battle  of  Waterloo  closed  a 
period  of  exhaustion ;  but,  since  that  time,  repeated  revolu- 
tions and  attempts  thereat  have  prevented  the  growth  of  any 
feeling  of  security,  while  the  maintenance  of  immense  armies 
and  fleets  :  expensive  palaces  :  and  kings  and  princes  :  and  a 
body  of  officials,  whose  name  is  legion :  have  prevented  and 
still  prevent  the  growth  of  wealth  and  population,  without 
which  the  better  soils  cannot  be  cultivated.  The  consequence 
is,  that  there  is  no  demand  for  labour,  and  the  process  of 
division  goes  on.  More  than  two  and  a  half  millions  of  pro- 
prietors have  incomes  of  $10  or  less.  Almost  a  million  have 
between  $10  and  $20,  and  seven  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
thousand  have  between  $20  and  $40.  Between  $40  and  $100, 
there  are  seven  hundred  thousand  :  while  the  whole  number  of 
families  whose  revenue  exceeds  $2000  is  under  seven  thousand. 

Properties  are  in  many  cases,  so  subdivided  that  men  are 


144  WEALTH    AND    LAND. 

willing  to  abandon  them  to  the  government,  but  even  this 
they  cannot  do,  except  on  payment  of  a  tax  of  about  forty 
cents,  and  until  that  shall  be  paid  they  must  remain  re- 
sponsible for  the  taxes  on  the  land,  averaging  twenty  cents 
per  acre.  If  they  attempt  to  sell  them,  the  tax  is  equivalent 
to  two  years'  rent.  Under  such  circumstances,  it  is  not  extra- 
ordinary that  the  land  should  be  almost  literally  shingled 
over  with  mortgages,  notwithstanding  the  enormous  charges 
for  fees  of  registration,  &c.,  by  which  the  interest  is  not  un- 
frequently  doubled,  and  sometimes  raised  even  to  a  higher 
point.  Interest  and  taxes  swallow  up,  as  we  have,  already 
said,  seventy  per  cent,  of  the  rent,  and  the  balance  is  squab- 
bled for  between  the  poor  proprietor  and  the  neighbouring 
lawyer.  A  century  since,  the  families  that  lived  by  the  law 
were  thirty  thousand  in  number,  and  the  business  was  im- 
mensely lucrative.  Since  then  the  number  has,  we  believe, 
greatly  increased,  and  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  the  amount 
divided  among  them  has  also  increased.  The  whole  system 
of  France  tends  to  remove  property  out  of  the  control  of  those 
who  have  laboured  for  its  production,  and  to  give  it  to  those 
who  have  not  laboured  :  and  tending  thereby  to  produce  that 
grinding  down  "  into  the  fine  and  shifting  sand  which  is  the 
basis  of" — not  democracy  but — turbulence,  anarchy  and 
slavery.  Throughout  her  whole  history  it  has  been  seen 
forcing  men  to  live  in  villages  while  cultivating  land  at  a 
distance,  thus  diminishing  greatly  the  productiveness  of 
labour :  and  now,  we  see  there  two  millions  of  poor  proprie- 
tors, with  their  little  bits  of  garden,  pasture,  and  arable  land, 
and  vineyards,  scarcely  ever  lying  together ;  but  here  a  little 
and  there  a  little,  some  in  the  valley  and  some  on  the  hill, 
by  which  any  improvement  is  rendered  impossible.  The 
foreclosure  of  mortgages,  therefore,  comes,  and  the  real 
owners — the  mortgagees — take  possession.  How  far  such 
is  the  tendency  may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  in  the  ten 
years  from  1826  to  1835,  thirty  per  cent,  of  the  whole 
territorial  property  changed  hands  by  sale,  exchange,  and 


WEALTH    AND    LAND.  145 

forfeiture,  being  about  as  much  as  changed  by  means  of 
inheritance  and  gift.  Such  is  the  necessary  consequence  of 
the  present  state  of  things. 

In  the  Netherlands,  the  power  of  division  exists  in  its  fill 
extent,  yet  there  the  son  does  not  claim  his  part  merely  be- 
cause entitled  to  it.  Wealth  increases  because  men  cultivate 
fertile  soils,  and  a  demand  for  labour  consequently  exists  in 
other  employments.  The  consumer  and  producer  are  near 
neighbours  to  each  other.  If  the  piece  which  the  son  may  claim 
be  not  sufficient  to  afford  him  support,  he  lets  or  sells  it  to 
his  brother :  and  thus  the  tendency  to  division  is  counteracted 
by  the  power  of  the  owner  to  judge  for  himself  as  to  the  most 
advantageous  mode  of  disposing  of  his  time.  So  in  Norway, 
distinguished  for  the  industry  and  economy  of  its  people, 
both  wealth  and  population  grow,  and  the  tendency  towards 
grinding  down  the  land  has  no  existence.  Properties  there 
remain  undiminished  for  centuries. 

In  the  United  States,  the  right  of  primogeniture  existed. 
It  disappeared  as  wealth  and  population  grew.  In  no  part 
of  the  world  does  the  democratic  tendency  exist  so  much  as 
in  Massachusetts  and  generally  in  New  England,  and  in 
none  are  the  forms  used  in  the  conveyance  of  land  so  sim- 
ple, yet  there  the  tendency  to  minute  subdivision  has  no  ex- 
istence. M.  de  Tocqueville  himself  informs  us  that  the  "  laws 
of  the  United  States  are  extremely  favourable  to  a  division 
of  landed  property :  but  that  a  cause  which  is  more  power- 
ful than  the  laws  prevents  property  from  being  divided  to 
excess."  He  adds,  that  "the  law  has  abolished  the  right  of 
primogeniture,  but  that  circumstances  have  concurred  to  re- 
establish it  under  a  form  of  which  none  can  complain,  and 
by  which  no  just  rights  are  impaired."  The  reason  for  this 
is,  simply,  that  wealth  and  the  demand  for  labour  and  skill 
grow  more  rapidly  than  population.  No  one  will  cultivate 
a  piece  of  land  that  will  not  afford  him  full  wages,  and 
hence  we  iind,  invariably,  that  when  too  small  for  advan- 
tageous division,  one  son  takes  the  property,  paying  to  the 

13 


146  WEALTH    AND    LAND. 

others  their  share,  to  enable  them  to  apply,  with  advantage 
to  themselves,  their  labour,  or  their  skill,  in  Lowell,  or  in 
Providence.  In  no  country  is  the  tendency  to  perfect  indi- 
viduality and  freedom  of  action  so  great ;  in  none  is  the  ten- 
dency to  union  so  universal :  and  in  none  is  the  power  of 
man  over  land  so  complete. 

Perfect  individuality,  and  the  tendency  to  union,  keep 
pace,  invariably,  with  the  growth  of  wealth  and  the  division 
of  land.  The  land  of  the  great  noble  of  the  middle  ages 
was  bound  to  give  him  a  certain  amount  of  rent,  and  for  this 
his  serfs  were  jointly  bound.  Unlimited  liability — solidarite — 
was  the  universal  rule.  If  one  failed  to  work  or  pay,  others 
must  make  up  the  deficiency.  The  serf  was  nameless.  He 
was  merely  a  serf:  one  of  those  who  were  to  do  the  work. 
So  we  find  it,  even  now,  in  India,  where  villages  are  assessed 
en  masse ;  and  when  some  of  the  unfortunate  ryots  abandon 
their  little  properties  in  despair  at  their  utter  inability  to  com- 
ply with  the  unceasing  demands  for  rent  claimed  by  the 
Company's  government,  the  rest  are  held  liable  for  the  defi- 
ciency. So  again,  in  France,  where  the  people  of  provinces, 
and  towns,  and  villages,  were  all  held  liable  for  the  taxes  ;  and 
when  the  dragons  of  Louvois  had  expelled  the  laborious 
and  economical  Huguenots,  the  Catholics  who  remained 
were  held  bound  to  make  up  the  full  amount. 

With  the  growth  of  population  and  of  wealth,  land  becomes 
divided,  and  individuals  make  contracts  to  pay  fixed  rents  ; 
and  thus  every  man  acquires  power  to  determine  for  himself 
what  shall  be  the  extent  of  his  liability :  and  this  tendency  is 
always  greatest  where  men  cultivate  the  richest  soils,  as  may 
be  seen  in  England.  The  tenant  in  Dorset  or  Hampshire 
has  no  rights.  His  landlord's  game  consumes  his  crop,  yet 
must  he  pay  the  full  rent ;  whereas  in  Lancashire  or  Lincoln, 
the  rights  of  all  are  strictly  defined.  In  the  one,  poor  men, 
who  live  in  mud  hovels,  still  cultivate  the  poor  lands  first  oc- 
cupied. In  the  other,  they  live  in  houses,  and  cultivate  the 
rich  soils  that  two  centuries  since  were  swamps  and  forests. 


WEALTH    AND    LAND.  147 

This  tendency  to  freedom  of  individual  action  in  the  mak- 
ing of  contracts  for  other  purposes  keeps  pace  with  that  in 
relation  to  land.  Throughout  Europe,  the  right  of  men  to 
associate  has  been  at  all  times  limited,  through  a  jeal- 
ousy of  every  thing  like  tendency  to  union  among  the  peo- 
ple, which  induced  sovereigns  and  those  by  whom  they 
were  surrounded,  to  insist  upon  continuing  in  relation  to 
them  the  principle  of  unlimited  liability.  Exemptions  from 
it  have  always  been  obtained  as  matters  of  favour :  by  aid  of 
royal  charters.  These  exemptions  are  more  or  less  numerous 
as  population  and  wealth  increase  rapidly  or  slowly,  and  as 
the  better  or  poorer  soils  are  cultivated.  In  France,  they 
are  granted  invariably  as  favours,  and  applications  therefor, 
unsupported  by  powerful  interest,  are  useless.*  In  England, 
they  were  granted  only  to  a  few  powerful  companies,  to  enable 
them  to  monopolize  certain  branches  of  trade  :  and  even  so 
recently  as  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century,  the  formation 
of  joint-stock  associations  with  transferable  stock,  for  any 
purpose,  was  absolutely  prohibited.  With  the  gradual  in- 
crease of  wealth  and  population,  and  with  the  cultivation  of 
the  better  soils,  we  see  a  gradual  relaxation  of  the  system 
of  solidarite,  and  charters  are  now  granted  to  railroad  com- 
panies, because  without  them  roads  could  not  be  made. 
They  are,  however,  still  refused  to  associations  for  most  other 
purposes. 

In  the  United  States,  we  can  see  this  tendency  to  perfect 
freedom  in  the  making  of  contracts,  whether  for  the 
rent  of  land  or  for  other  purposes,  steadily  ^  increasing 
as  we  pass  from  those  States  in  which  they  cultivate  the 
poor  lands  to  those  in  which  they  cultivate  the  rich  soils  of 
the  river  bottoms.  In  the  south,  men  work  in  gangs,  and 
each  man  is  individually  liable  for  the  performance  of  the 


*  The  reader  who  desires  to  understand  the  restrictions  on  Commercial 
Association  in  France,  will  find  them  fully  explained  in  the  Revise  des  deux 
Mondes,  for  July,  1845,  in  an  article  by  M.  Coquelin,  translated  and  republished 
in  the  Merchant's  Magazine  for  May  and  June,  1845. 


148  WEALTH    AND    LAND. 

whole  work.  No  contract  for  rent  is  here  made,  ai.J  here  it 
is  that  we  find  the  greatest  hostility  to  exemption  from  the 
same  principle  in  regard  to  all  other  of  the  pursuits  of  life. 
In  the  new  States  of  the  west,  where  population  is  small  and 
scattered,  and  the  rich  soils  are  untouched,  the  same  state 
of  things  is  found.  Union  among  themselves  is  difficult, 
and  jealousy  of  unions  exists.  In  Pennsylvania,  much  of 
whose  richest  lands  is  yet  uncleared,  the  same  jealousy  has 
always  existed  ;  but  as  the  various  soils :  the  lime,  the  coal, 
and  the  iron-bearing  soils  :  are  coming  into  activity,  it  tends 
gradually  to  pass  away.  In  no  part  of  the  Union  has  there 
existed  the  same  tendency  to  the  concentration  of  land  in 
the  hands  of  a  few  persons,  nor  has  there  been  elsewhere 
exhibited  so  forcibly  its  effect  in  preventing  the  union 
of  man.  The  first  has  been  always,  to  a  great  extent,  held 
in  masses,  and  corporations  have  been  formed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  so  continuing  to  hold  it.  This  latter  state  of  things 
is  found  chiefly  in  the  coal  region  of  the  Lehigh  river,  which 
while  possessed  of  every  advantage  for  a  great  trade,  has  ever 
been  unable  to  contend,  because  of  the  monopoly  of  land, 
with  the  Schuylkill  region,  in  which  the  lands  were  divided 
among  numerous  owners,  and  were  frequently  passing  from 
hand  to  hand.  In  the  first,  the  union  of  man  has  no  exist- 
ence, and  wealth  grows  slowly.  In  the  second,  it  is  seen 
everywhere,  and  wealth  and  population  grow  rapidly,  pro- 
ducing a  demand  for  the  products  of  the  earth  tending  to 
bring  the  more  fertile  soils  into  full  activity. 

As  we  pass  north  from  Pennsylvania,  we  find  land  more 
divided,  population  more  dense,  and  a  greater  tendency  to 
perfect  individuality,  accompanied  by  an  increasing  tendency 
to  union,  and. an  increasing  power  to  unite  on  such  terms  as 
may  be  deemed  best  for  the  parties  who  contract.  These 
things  are  found  to  a  greater  extent  in  New  York  than  in 
Pennsylvania :  but  as  we  approach  Massachusetts  and  Rhode 
Island,  where  men  devote  themselves  most  assiduously  to 
bringing  into  activity  all  the  powers  of  the  earth,  we  find  in- 


WEALTH    AND    LAND.  149 

dividuality,  the  tendency  to  union,  and  the  power  to  unite,  in 
a  greater  degree  than  in  any  other  portion  of  the  world. 
There,  all  have  property.  There  the  rights  of  person  and  pro- 
perty are  most  strictly  defined  and  best  maintained  :  and  there 
it  is  that  large  capitalists  and  little  shopkeepers ;  large  farmers 
and  little  labourers ;  large  manufacturers  and  little  spinners  and 
weavers;  widows  and  orphans,  clergymen  and  doctors,  editors 
and  authors,  and  lawyers ;  are  found  uniting  for  the  building 
of  factories,  the  making  of  railroads,  and  every  other  of  the 
various  modes  in  which  wealth  can  most  advantageously  be 
applied  to  increase  the  productiveness  of  labour. 

If  we  desire  now  to  find  the  cause  of  the  rapid  advance  of 
the  poor  and  scattered  colonists  of  the  United  States  towards 
wealth  and  power,  we  must  seek  it  in  the  division  of  the 
land.  Every  man  lives,  or,  if  he.  will,  may  live,  in  his  own 
house  and  lot,  or  on  his  own  farm.  He  works,  or,  if  he 
will,  he  may,  in  his  own  shop.  He  drives  his  own  wagon, 
and  commands  the  ship,  of  which  he  is  owner  in  whole  or 
in  part.  The  ship  carpenter  builds  the  ship  of  which  he  is 
to  be  part  owner,  and  the  iron  founder  makes  engines  for  the 
factory  in  whose  stock  he  has  purchased  shares.  The 
female  operative  works  in  the  mill  of  which  she  is  part 
owner,  that  she  may  gather  means  to  furnish  the  house 
of  which  she  is  to  be  sole  mistress  :  and  the  coal  miner 
looks  forward  to  the  time  when  he  can  work  his  own  vein 
of  coal,  and  pay  wages  to  men  that  are  following  in  his 
footsteps.  All  these  phenomena,  although  some  of  them 
are  apparently  unconnected  with  land,  are  the  natural  results 
of  its  division.  The  landlord  who  collects  large  rents 
patronises  his  own  farmer,  his  own  agent,  his  own  shop- 
keeper, his  own  lawyer,  his  own  doctor,  and  his  own 
carpenter,  and  these  men  have  all  what  is  termed  a 
valuable  «  connection."  All  this  is  fully  exhibited  in  the 
Lehigh  coal  region  of  Pennsylvania.  Great  companies 
prefer  great  tenants,  and  little  men  cannot  rent  mines. 
Great  tenants  keep  great  shops,  at  which  the  little  inec 

13* 


150  WEALTH   AND    LAND. 

must  make  their  exchanges,  for  competition  is  rendered 
impossible.  Great  companies  and  tenants  patronize  their 
own  lawyers,  and  doctors,  and  carpenters,  and  bridge-build- 
ers, and  road-makers ;  the  consequence  of  which  is  an  uni- 
versal dulness  and  stagnation.  The  miner  lives  in  the  com- 
pany's house,  and  works  company  land ;  and  his  daughter  is 
idle,  for  there  is  no  demand  for  labour.  With  wealth  un- 
limited beneath  the  surface,  the  houses  upon  it  wear  all  the 
marks  of  poverty ;  the  quantity  of  lime  needed  to  improve 
even  the  exterior  appearance  of  their  houses  being  deemed  a 
luxury  too  great  to  be  afforded  to  their  occupants. 

If,  now,  we  pass  westward,  a  few  miles,  to  the  Schuylkill 
region,  where  land  is  divided,  and  where  each  man  looks  after 
his  own  property,  we  see  a  totally  different  state  of  affairs. 
There  patronage  cannot  exist.  Every  working  miner  seeks  to 
have  his  own  house  and  lot,  and  each  looks  to  the  time  when 
he  may  work  for  himself,  either  as  tenant  or  owner.  Every 
man  selects  his  own  shop  with  W7hich  to  trade ;  his  own  lawyer 
with  whom  to  consult ;  his  own  doctor ;  and  his  own  carpen- 
ter, when  he  would  build.  The  consequence  is  universal 
activity  and  energy,  and  universal  demand  for  labour.  The 
daughter  finds  a  demand  for  her  services  in  making  dresses 
for  her  thriving  neighbours ;  and  she  can  marry,  because  she 
can  aid  in  furnishing  the  house ;  while  her  husband,  the  jour- 
neyman carpenter,  or  iron-founder,  becomes  himself  a  master, 
having  his  own  shop,  and  living  in  his  own  house,  occupied  by 
his  own  wife  and  children  ;  and  that  house  is  built  on  his  own 
lot,  within  which  he  cultivates  his  own  garden  in  his  hours 
of  leisure. 

If,  now,  we  substitute  England  and  America  for  the  Lehigh 
and  Schuylkill  coal  regions,  the  same  picture  will  answer. 
The  first  is  filled  with  great  land-owners,  great  farmers,  great 
merchants,  great  bankers,  great  lawyers,  great  architects, 
great  manufacturers,  great  ship-owners,  and  great  corpora- 
tions, all  living  in  palaces ;  while  the  people  cultivate  the 
lands  of  others ;  live  in  the  houses  of  others ;  work  in  the 


WEALTH    ANfc    LAND.  151 

factories  or  the  mines  of  others;  tend  the  shops  of  others; 
command  the  ships  of  others ;  and,  as  a  necessary  conse- 
quence, a  vast  portion  are  obliged  to  eat  the  food  of  others. 
Patronage  is  universal.  The  great  do  not  need  to  work,  and 
the  small  work  ^vithout  spirit.  The  first  are  idle,  for  want  of 
disposition  to  work;  and  the  second  are  often  so,  for  want  of 
work  to  do.  The  first  waste,  because  they  may.  The  second 
do  not  economize,  because  they  want  confidence  in  the  future. 

In  America,  from  north  to  south,  we  find  the  state  of 
things  that  has  been  described  as  existing  in  the  Schuylkill 
valley :  greatest  in  the  north,  and  gradually  diminishing  as 
we  pass  south  and  west.  Every  man  is  working  for  himself, 
and  anxious  to  have  his  own  house  and  lot :  or  farm :  or  shop. 
Those  who  have  houses  and  lots,  and  farms  and  shops,  have 
in  them  their  own  little  savings'  banks,  in  which  they  deposit 
all  their  spare  hours  and  half  hours:  their  spare  dollars  and  half 
dollars :  and  thus  there  is  made,  almost  insensibly,  an  addi- 
tion to  the  wealth  of  the  community,  the  amount  of  which, 
could  it  be  ascertained,  would  be  deemed  incredible.  Those 
who  have  not  yet  houses  and  lots,  or  farms,  or  shops, 
have  at  hand  the  little  factory,  or  the  little  bank,  owned  in 
shares :  the  savings'  bank  of  the  neighbourhood :  in  which 
they  make  their  deposits,  there  to  remain  until  they  shall 
have  enough  to  buy  the  house  or  the  farm,  or  to  set«up  the 
shop.  Wealth  thus  accumulates  rapidly,  and  produces  a 
constant  demand  for  labour.  Everyone  feels  that  he  can 
"go  ahead"  if  he  will,  and  everybody,  therefore,  does; 
the  necessary  consequence  of  which  is,  that  those  who  are 
"  ahead"  must  work  to  keep  so.  If  they  pause  but  for  a 
moment  they  are  left  behind;  and  this  is  equally  true,  intel- 
lectually and  physically.  Every  man  will  educate  his  children, 
and  will  have  his  own  newspaper,  and  will  have  portraits, 
whether  in  oil  or  daguerreotype,  of  his  family ;  and  will  in- 
vent his  own  machine  ;  and  the  rich  must  study  books,  and 
newspapers,  and  pictures,  and  machinery,  if  they  would 
maintain  their  position  in  the  world. 

To  this  state  of  things  is  due  the  vast  productive  power  of 


152  WEALTH    AND    LAND. 

the  Union,  far  exceeding  that  of  the  twenty-eight  millions 
composing  the  population  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  :  and 
not  to  the  abundance  of  land,  upon  the  poor  soils  of  which 
they  have  been  forced  to  scatter  themselves ;  expending  upon 
them,  and  upon  distant  roads  and  canals,  labour  that  would 
have  been  thrice  more  productive  if  employed  upon  the  river 
bottoms  of  the  older  States:  upon  the  marl  and  the  limestone, 
the  coal  and  the  iron:  all  of  which  would  long  since  have 
been  done,  could  they  have  concentrated  themselves  as  they 
would  naturally  have  desired  to  do. 

To  this  it  is  due,  that  while  they  are  the  greatest  producers 
and  the  greatest  consumers,  they  are  the  greatest  accumulators 
of  the  world.  Every  man  has,  in  his  own  home,  his  own 
saving  fund:  in  his  own  farm,  or  house,  or  shop:  and  each  is 
desirous  of  making  his  deposits  as  large  as  possible.  There- 
fore, each  dislikes  taxes.  Taxes  come  with  wars.  There- 
fore, each  dislikes  wars.  The  question  of  peace  or  war  rests 
always  with  himself,  and  others  like  himself,  who  cultivate 
their  ~own  land  and  pay  their  own  taxes;  and  who,  having 
their  own  houses,  and  lots,  and  shops,  and  mills,  and  facto- 
ries, to  look  after,  have  no  need  to  seek  employment  in  the 
work  of  robbing  and  plundering  their  neighbours.  There- 
fore, he  and  they  prefer  peace.  With  peace  grow  wealth,  and 
strength,  and  the  power  of  self-protection,  whether  by  means 
of  armies  and  fleets  :  if  needed:  or  by  means  of  laws  for  re- 
straining their  neighbours  who  desire  to  compel  them  to  use 
their  ships,  or  to  wear  their  cloths.  They  are  too  rich  to  quar- 
rel with ;  and  therefore  it  is  that  causes  of  quarrel,  whether 
in  regard  to  boundary  lines  ;  or  indemnity  for  spoliations  on 
the  ocean ;  or  restrictions  on  their  commerce;  or  interference 
with  the  personal  rights  of  their  citizens  ;  disappear.  They 
prefer  peace,  and  therefore  it  is  that  they  have  it.  They 
need,  therefore,  neither  fleets  nor  armies.* 

*  War  with  Mexico  could  never  have  arisen  had  it  been  left  to  the  people  to 
declare  it.  Mexico  commenced  it,  and  battle  and  victory  were  the  result.  Their 
representatives  accepted  the  defiance;  but  had  it  been  left  to  the  people  to  de- 
cide the  question,  the  decision,  even  then,  would  have  been  for  peace. 


WEALTH    AND    LAND.  153 

If,  now,  to  the  great  accumulations  resulting  from  the  ex- 
istence of  these  millions  of  savings'  banks,  small  and  great, 
we  add  those  resulting  from  the  absence  of  taxes  for  the  sup- 
port of  ruinous  wars :  and  for  preparations  for  war  in  time  of 
peace:  which  latter,  on  the  scale  of  those  of  England,  would 
consume  a  hundred  millions  a  year:  we  may  readily  account 
for  at  least  jive  hundred  millions  now  annually  invested, 
in  addition  to  what  would  be  invested  were  land  held  by 
great  landholders  :  by  men  who  sought  in  the  maintenance 
of  colonies,  requiring  fleets  and  armies,  the  means  of  pro- 
viding for  themselves  and  their  dependents.  These  five 
hundred  millions  add  annually  to  the  productive  power  at 
least  one  hundred  millions.  If  the  reader  will  calculate 
the  result  of  such  an  investment,  and  such  a  return,  he  will 
be  enabled  to  account  for  the  fact  that  the  United  States  are 
now  the  wealthiest  country  of  the  world ;  and  the  result  at 
which  he  will  arrive  will  be  that  it  is  due  to  the  division,  and 
not  to  the  quantity,  of  land. 

This  estimate  of  the  excess  of  the  power  of  accumulation 
is  equal  to  twenty-four  dollars,  or  five  pounds  sterling,  per 
head.  A  very  large  portion  of  this  sum  may  be  accounted 
for  by  the  greater  diligence  of  men  who  apply  their  labour  on 
their  own  property  ;  but  much  is  the  result  of  other  causes. 
England  persists  in  relying  upon  the  poor  soils  of  Poland, 
Canada,  and  other  parts  of  the  world,  for  a  portion  of  her  sup- 
ply of  food,  which  she  might  obtain  from  her  own  rich  ones ; 
and  that  is  now  obtained  by  the  aid  of  the  most  cumbrous 
machinery.  It  is  a  rule  in  mechanics,  that  the  more  directly 
power  is  applied,  the  less  is  the  friction  and  the  greater  is  the 
effect :.  and  that  with  every  increase  in  the  quantity  of  ma- 
chinery, friction  increases  and  power  diminishes.  So  is  it 
here.  The  friction  is  great,  and  hence  it  is  that  food  is  high, 
and  that  wages  are  low.  In  many  parts  of  England,  the  agri- 
cultural labourer  has  but  nine  shillings  per  week,  while  the 
ordinary  price  of  wheat  is  not  less  than  fifty  shillings  per 
quarter,  and  it  is  frequently  more.  The  labourer  has  for  his 


154  WEALTH    AND    LAND. 

week's  work,  therefore,  but  about  a  bushel  and  a  quarter,  or 
a  bushel  and  a  third  per  week,  for  all  purposes,  and  he 
can  accumulate  nothing.  Throughout  the  United  States, 
the  labourer  has  about  seventy-five  cents  per  day,  which 
will  not  vary  materially  from  the  average  price  of  a  bushel 
of  wheat :  which  would  give  six  bushels  as  the  price  of  a 
week's  work.  He  can,  therefore,  consume  more  than  the 
English  labourer  receives,  and  still  lay  up  more  than 
half  his  wages.  That  he  does  this  is  every  day  seen. 
In  tens  of  thousands  of  cases,  the  unmarried  labourer 
has  from  a  hundred  to  a  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  per 
annum,  and  his  board.  His  clothing  costs  him  little,  and 
nearly  the  whole  amount  of  his  wages  remains  in  the 
hands  of  his  employer,  or  is  temporarily  invested  :  after- 
wards to  be  employed  in  the  purchase  of  a  little  farm.  The 
large  capitalist  profits  in  a  similar  manner  from  the  cheap- 
ness of  food,  and  the  result  of  such  accumulation  by  the  two 
classes  is  prodigious.  Again,  no  capital  need  remain  idle, 
or  even  but  partially  productive,  where  the  habit  of  combined 
exertion  exists  in  so  great  a  degree  as  in  the  United  States, 
and  where  capital  is  active,  labour  is  rendered  productive. 
In  England,  on  the  contrary,  the  former  often  stagnates,  and 
the  latter  is  often  unproductive. 

The  waste  in  that  country  is  almost  incredible.     The  city 
of  London,*  has  vast  estates,  chiefly  Irish  confiscations,  that 

*  The  income  of  this  corporation  is  as  follows  : 

Trust  estates  -  -  -       £360,000 

Local  rates  -  -  230,000 

Coal  duties  and  street  and  market  tolls          200,000 
Freedom  and  livery  fines          -  -  50,000 

Port  of  London     -  -  -  60,000 

£900,000,  or  $4,320,000. 

And  this  with  a  population  of  129,000.  The  number  of  officers  is  two 
hundred  and  sixty-three,  with  salaries  varying  from  £100  to  £8000  per  annum, 
and  these  offices  are  filled  invariably  by  friends  and  relations  of  aldermen  and 
common  council  men.  The  private  extortion  of  the  body,  individually  and 
collectively,  adds  greatly  to  the  above  amount.  The  consequence  of  all  this  is, 
that «  the  prudent  tly  to  escape  extortion,  but  the  pauper  remains" — and  the  poor 


WEALTH    AND    LAND.  155 

yield  above  ,£300,000  per  annum,  most  of  which  is  squan- 
dered; while  poor  taxes  are  heavy,  and  the  provision  for 
education  is  very  bad.  A  single  entertainment  has  cost 
$120,000,  and  a  single  officer  receives  nearly  $40,000  per 
annum.  The  salaries  of  the  legal  staff  amount  to  nearly 
$200,000,  and  the  whole  amount  of  salaries  exceeds  half  a 
million  of  dollars.  Large  estates,  here  as  elsewhere,  begec 
habits  of  great  expenditure  and  great  waste,  and  thus  the 
leaks  are  almost  incredibly  great.  Massachusetts,  with  a 
population  of  800,000,  expends  about  $2,000,000,  or  less 
than  half  of  what  is  expended  by  the  city  of  London :  yet, 
out  of  this  sum,  she  appropriates  $300,000  to  the  support 
of  infirm  and  aged  poor,  and  about  seven  hundred  thousand 
dollars  for  the  maintenance  of  public  schools.  There  men 
manage  their  own  affairs :  because  land  is  divided,  and 
man  united. 

The  admirable  effect  of  the  division  of  land,  consequent 
upon  the  growth  of  population  and  wealth,  is  fully  shown  in 
Prussia,  by  the  result  of  the  abolition  of  leases  in  perpetuity, 
and  their  conversion  into  freeholds,  with  compensation  to  the 
owner  of  the  land,  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  years'  purchase 
of  his  interest.  The  great  landholders  were  encumbered 
with  debts,  and  their  estates  were  loaded  with  mortgages 
which  prevented  improvement.  In  Pomerania  alone,  the 
encumbrances  amounted  to  $24,000,000.  The  peasant 
holdings  were  freed  at  once,  on  payment  of  the  stipulated 
sum  ;  and  the  small  landholders  enjoyed  a  credit  that  to  the 
great  ones  had  been  denied.  All  other  impediments  to  the 
free  disposal  of  land  by  sale,  gift,  or  will,  were  also  abolish- 
ed ;  and  the  result  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  wealth  and  popu- 
lation are  now  advancing  in  Prussia  at  a  rate  unknown  to 
the  rest  of  continental  Europe :  and  that  she  is  now  at  the 


rates  amount  to  £90,000.  Here  we  have,  in  miniature,  a  perfect  representa- 
tion of  the  whole  system  of  England.  The  reader  who  desires  to  understand 
both,  will  obtain  the  knowledge  he  seeks  by  reference  to  the  Westminster  Re- 
view, vol.  45,  p.  193. 


156  WEALTH    AND    LAND. 

head  of  the  great  commercial  union  of  northern  Germany, 
throughout  the  whole  extent  of  which  exists  perfect  freedom 
of  internal  trade.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  division  of  land 
has  been  attended  with  the  union  of  man,  and  the  extension 
of  cultivation  over  the  fertile  soils. 

The  PAST  says  to  the  landlord  of  the  PRESENT  :  «  If  you 
desire  that  your  lands  become  valuable  :  yielding  large  rents  : 
labour  to  promote  the  maintenance  of  peace." 

To  the  tenant  it  says :  "If  you  desire  to  become  the 
owner  of  the  land  you  cultivate  :  labour  to  promote  the  main- 
tenance of  peace,  and  to  prevent  the  waste  of  wealth  on 
fleets  and  armies." 

To  the  labourer  it  says :  "If  you  desire  to  own  your 
house,  and  lot,  and  garden,  your  own  shop,  or  your  own 
farm :  to  have  your  own  wife  and  children :  to  read  your 
own  books  and  newspapers  :  to  go  to  your  own  church  :  to 
send  your  children  to  your  own  school :  and  to  see  them 
prosper  in  an  active  world,  where  rapidly  increasing  wealth 
gives  increased  wages  to  a  rapidly  increasing  population : 
labour  to  promote  the  maintenance  of  peace  and  economy." 

To  the  nation  :  "  If  you  desire  to  acquire,  individually  and 
collectively,  the  power  of  perfect  self-protection :  avoid  war 
and  preparation  for  war." 


MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE.  157 


CHAPTER  V. 

MAN  AND  HIS  STANDARD  OF  VALUE. 

THE  man  who  cultivates  the  poor  soils,  barters  the  com- 
modity he  produces  for  the  one  he  wants.  His  production 
is  small,  and  consists  chiefly  of  food,  most  of  which  is 
needed  for  himself  and  his  family.  His  exchanges  are  few 
and  small.  As  population  and  wrealth  increase,  and  as  the 
more  fertile  soils  are  brought  into  cultivation,  food  becomes 
more  abundant,  and  he  has  more  to  spare  to  be  exchanged 
for  such  other  commodities  as  he  is  now  enabled  to  con- 
sume, and  we  find  him  gradually  adopting  a  standard  of 
value  to  be  used  in  his  exchanges.  In  some  places  cowrie 
shells  pass  as  money.  In  others  prices  are  measured  by 
tobacco,  the  legislator  being  paid  for  his  services  by  the 
delivery  of  a  certain  number  of  pounds :  while  other  quan- 
tities are  fixed  as  the  price  of  other  services,  and .  of  the 
commodities  most  commonly  in  use.  Tobacco  is,  however, 
bulky  and  liable  to  injury  by  time,  and  forms  a  standard  of 
a  very  inconvenient  kind.  Wealth  and  population  still  fur- 
ther increase,  and  men  are  found  adopting  as  standards 
for  the  measurement  of  values,  silver  and  gold :  both  con- 
stantly in  demand  for  various  purposes  in  the  arts ;  both 
representing  in  a  very  small  compass  a  large  amount  of 
labour ;  both  free  from  all  danger  of  injury  from  rust ; 
and  therefore  termed  the  precious  metals.  Those  who  de- 
sire to  part  with  other  commodities  now  sell  them  for  money, 
and  those  who  purchase,  deliver,  or  contract  to  deliver, 
money,  which  becomes  the  universal  currency,  and  the  habit 
of  bartering  commodities  passes  gradually  out  of  use. 

14 


158  MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE. 

He  now  cultivates  other  and  better  soils,  and  as  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  labour  grows,  exchanges  grow  in  number 
and  amount :  and  more  and  more  of  the  precious  metals, 
termed  money,  are  required  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  those 
exchanges.  Representing  so  large  an  amount  of  value,  and 
being  themselves  of  so  little  bulk,  they  are,  more  than  others, 
liable  to  be  lost  or  stolen  ;  and  their  possessors :  those  who 
hold  portions  of  their  capital  uninvested,  and  waiting  for  the 
opportunity  of  re-investment :  desire  to  place  them  in  secu- 
rity. At  first,  we  find  them  placed  with  traders  called  gold- 
smiths, and  afterwards  with  bankers:  or  in  banks.  In  some 
places,  banks  merely  hold  them  for  the  owners,  to  be  return- 
ed, or  to  be  transferred  on  books  kept  for  that  purpose  ;  but 
as  exchanges  become  more  numerous,  checks  or  drafts  are 
devised,  by  means  of  which  the  property  therein  is  trans- 
ferred without  the  trouble  of  visiting  the  bank.  With  another 
step,  we  find  the  machinery  of  exchange  still  further  im- 
proved. Banks  now  furnish  certificates  for  given  sums,  large 
and  small,  by  aid  of  which  transfers  are  made  with  a  facility 
before  unknown ;  and  thus  the  machinery  for  the  exchange  of 
property  from  hand  to  hand  is  perfected. 

As  the  better  soils  come  further  into  action,  and  labour 
becomes  more  and  more  productive,  the  fashioner  and  the 
producer  come  more  and  more  together.  Communities 
now  arise,  in  each  of  which  are  to  be  performed  numerous 
exchanges,  and  in  each  are  men  whose  capital  is  at  one  mo- 
ment invested  in  merchandise,  and  at  another  uninvested  : 
taking  the  form  of  money,  and  while  remaining  in  that  form 
yielding  no  return.  In  each  of  these  communities,  a  shop 
is  needed  for  facilitating  transactions  in  the  commodity 
now  used  as  currency.  One  man  desires  to  lodge  his  little 
stock  for  safe  keeping.  Another,  to  obtain  an  order  for  mo- 
ney to  be  paid  at  another  place  :  and  a  third,  to  have  bank 
notes  that  he  can  use  in  the  performance  of  his  exchanges, 
and  thus  be  relieved  of  the  necessity  for  carrying  silver  or 


MAN   AND    HIS    STANDARD   OF    VALUE.  159 

gold,  which  although  far  less  bulky  than  tobacco,  are  far 
more  bulky  than  the  note. 

With  each  step  in  this  course,  we  find  a  great  saving  of 
labour,  and  an  increase  in  the  quantity  that  may  be  applied 
to  the  work  of  production.  The  man  who  has  a  thousand 
dollars,  or  pounds,  places  it  in  the  bank,  and  the  bank  pays 
it  out  in  ten,  twenty,  or  fifty  small  sums,  of  the  precise 
amount  desired  :  and  thus  the  owner  is  saved  the  time  of 
counting  his  money  and  of  carrying  it  about  with  him,  as 
well  as  the  risk  of  loss.  In  the  outset  we  find  bankers 
charging  a  commission  for  the  facility  thus  afforded,  but  by 
degrees,  they  are  seen  performing  these  important  services, 
and  affording  the  still  greater  facility  of  bank  notes,  free  of 
all  expense  to  those  who  use  them.  The  machinery  of  ex- 
change becomes  therefore  less  costly  as  it  becomes  more  per- 
fect :  and  wealth  accumulates  with  increased  rapidity. 

In  the  various  smaller  communities  now  growing  up,  are 
numerous  little  capitalists  preparing  for  the  purchase  of 
houses  and  lots,  or  little  farms,  or  for  the  opening  of  shops  : 
while  among  them  are  some  larger  ones,  that  occasionally 
have  their  means  disengaged.  To  all  of  them,  interest  is 
desirable,  while  it  is  in  the  highest  degree  advantageous  to 
the  community  that  the  accumulations  of  the  tailor  and  car- 
penter ;  the  little  fortune  of  the  widow  or  the  orphan :  and 
the  savings  of  the  doctor  or  the  clergyman :  should  be  kept  in 
active  operation,  facilitating  the  application  of  labour  to  pro- 
duction. By  the  combined  effort  of  these  little  capitalists,  a 
shop  is  opened  for  the  purpose  of  lending  out  their  money,  and 
that  of  affording  to  the  people  of  the  neighbourhood  a  secure 
place  of  deposit  for  such  portions  of  their  respective  capi- 
tals as  may  from  time  to  time  become  disengaged.  The 
stock  therein  is  held  in  shares,  transferable  with  little  trouble  : 
and  thus  the  shoemaker,  when  ready  to  buy  his  house,  sells 
out  to  the  tailor  ;  and  the  clerk,  when  ready  to  open  a  shop, 
parts  with  his  interest  to  the  clergyman.  The  joint  capital 
is  security  to  those  who  trade  with  it  for  the  safe  re* 


160         MAN  AND  HIS  STANDARD  OF  VALUE. 

turn  of  their  money,  and  now  each  man  having  a  place  of 
safe  deposit,  he  no  longer  finds  it  necessary  to  hide  or 
bury  his  little  stock :  nor  even  his  larger  amounts  of  dis- 
engaged capital.  The  little  bank,  thus  organized,  aids  the 
farmer  in  his  purchases  of  manure  ;  the  shopkeeper  in  ob- 
taining a  larger  supply  of  goods  ;  and  the  builder  in  obtain- 
ing bricks  and  timber;  and  thus  the  little  savings  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood are  always  actively  employed  on  the  spot  on  which 
they  have  been  made.  The  management  of  the  little  ma- 
chine, though  inexpensive,  constitutes  a  deduction  from  the 
interest  received :  and  to  pay  these  expenses,  the  bankers 
must  either  make  a  charge  for  the  accommodation  they  afford 
in  receiving,  guarding,  and  paying  out  again  at  the  pleasure 
and  in  the  sums  that  suit  the  convenience  of  their  owners, 
the  small  amounts  that  they  are  accustomed  to  keep  for 
their  daily  business  ;  or  the  larger  ones  that  pass  among 
them  as  one  or  another  buys  or  sells  a  house,  or  a  piece 
of  land :  or  they  must  pay  themselves  with  the  interest 
derived  from  lending  out  the  moneys  thus  placed  with  them 
for  security.  The  facility  of  investment  is  perfect.  Land  in 
large  and  small  lots;  and  houses,  and  stocks  in  little  institu- 
tions for  insurance,  or  manufactures ;  or  shares  in  ships  and 
railroads,  and  turnpikes ;  may  always  be  bought :  and  there- 
fore but  little  capital  accumulates  in  banks,  to  be  used  for 
their  own  benefit ;  and  their  profits  therefore  just  suffice  to  pay 
their  expenses,  and  to  enable  their  owners  to  receive  the 
same  rate  of  interest  that  they  would  have  if  their  money 
were  lent  on  mortgage.  The  advantage  derived  by  them 
from  the  existence  of  the  bank,  is  the  facility  with  which 
small  sums  may  be  temporarily  invested,  and  recalled  :  while 
the  community  profits  by  the  fact  that  all  wealth  is  actively 
employed.  If  the  labourer  did  not  lend  his  fellow  labourer 
his  horse,  he  could  not  borrow  his  cart,  and  then  two  horses 
and  carts  would  be  needed  where  the  work  was  perhaps  in- 
sufficient for  even  one  :  and  if  the  owners  of  little  sums  of 
money  kept  them  in  old  stocking's,  they  might  themselves  find 


MAN   AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF   VALUE.  161 

it  difficult  to  borrow  when  occasion  required  it.  The  money- 
shop  now  constitutes  a  little  savings'  bank  for  disengaged  ca- 
pital :  as  lands,  lots,  and  houses  constitute  little  savings'  banks 
for  the  otherwise  spare  labour  of  their  owners.  As  the  fer- 
tile soils  come  more  and  more  into  cultivation,  and  as  with  the 
growth  of  population  and  wealth  the  fashioner  takes  mom 
;ind  more  his  place  by  the  side  of  the  producer  ;  the  tendency 
to  concentration  increases,  and  is  accompanied  with  a  con- 
stant diminution  in  the  quantity  required  of  the  machinery  of 
exchange  used  in  passing  commodities  from  hand  to  hand  ; 
because  the  farmer  exchanges  directly  with  the  tanner  and 
the  shoemaker,  and  the  hatter  with  the  dealer  in  sugar  and 
coffee,  the  balances  alone  being  paid  in  money :  and  is  also 
accompanied  with  a  constantly  increasing  facility  of  in- 
vestment, tending  to  diminish  the  quantity  of  money  idle  in 
the  hands  of  its  owner,  and  seeking  employment.  The  dimi- 
nution in  the  amount  of  capital  invested  in  the  machinery 
of  exchange  from  hand  to  hand,  equally  with  the  diminution 
in  that  required  for  its  transfer  from  place  to  place  :  the  one 
called  money  and  the  other  wagons  :  tends  to  enable  men  to 
apply  more  labour  to  production,  and  thus  to  bring  into  ac- 
tivity the  more  fertile  soils,  with  increased  return  to  both  la- 
bour and  capital :  and  towards  the  production  of  this  result 
the  establishment  of  the  little  money-shop  greatly  contri- 
butes. 

The  owner  of  uninvested  capital :  money,  or  currency : 
keeps  some  of  it  in  his  pocket-book,  and  some  of  it  in  the 
bank.  The  former  is  called  circulation,  and  the  latter  is 
known  as  deposits.  The  proportion  which  the  former  bears 
to  the  latter,  depends  upon  the  proximity  or  remoteness  of 
the  money-shop,  or  bank.  If  it  be  near,  he  will  keep  very 
few  notes  on  hand,  because  he  can  have  more  at  any  mo- 
ment, and  his  check  will  always  answer  in  their  stead  ;  but  if 
it  be  at  a  distance  of  several  miles,  he  must  always  have  with 
him  as  many  notes  as  will  answer  his  purpose  for  a  week, 
at  least.  Every  increase  in  the  facility  of  obtaining  the  de- 

14* 


162  MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE. 

scription  of  currency  that  is  needed,  tends  therefore  to  dimi- 
nish the  quantity  kept  on  hand,  while  it  tends  to  facilitate  ex- 
changes and  promote  the  growth  of  wealth.  With  the 
growth  of  wealth  and  population,  there  is  a  tendency  to  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  shops  trading  in  money,  or  banks ; 
to  increase  in  the  facility  of  obtaining  the  machinery  of  ex- 
change, called  money ;  and  to  diminution  in  the  proportion 
which  money,  whether  gold,  silver,  or  bank  notes,  or  in  any 
form  other  than  that  of  credits,  transferable  by  checks  or 
drafts,  bears  to  the  operation  of  trade.  The  proportion  which 
the  coin,  or  the  bank  notes,  used  in  London  or  New  York, 
bears  to  the  trade  of  those  cities,  is  vastly  smaller  than  that 
of  Paris  or  St.  Petersburg!),  and  less  in  all  than  in  Mexico 
or  Lima.  The  circulation  of  London  is  not  probably  greater 
than  that  of  communities  whose  trade  is  not  one-hundredth 
part  as  great :  nor  does  that  of  New  York  exceed  in  amount 
what  is  required  by  counties  of  fifty  thousand  inhabitants. 
The  more  perfectly  the  number  of  banks  is  in  accordance 
with  the  amount  of  business  to  be  done,  the  less  is  the  quan- 
tity of  circulation  that  can  be  maintained ;  and  thus  the  power 
of  banks  to  profit  by  aid  of  that  circulation  tends  to  diminish, 
as  with  the  division  of  land  and  growth  of  trade  the  facility  of 
investing  capital  is  increased  :  and  they  are  thus  forced  more 
and  more  to  look  to  their  own  capital  for  the  profits  of  busi- 
ness. With  each  such  step,  their  action  becomes  more 
uniform  and  steady,  and  they  themselves  become  more 
safe.  Their  insecurity  results  always  from  unsteadiness. 
Unsteadiness  results  always  from  over-trading.  Over-trad- 
ing can  take  place  only  by  aid  of  deposits  or  circulation. 
Freedom  of  action  tends  to  limit  both,  and  by  so  doing  to 
prevent  over-trading,  and  thus  to  produce  steadiness  in  their 
action  and  in  the  value  of  money. 

All  this  is  perfectly  exemplified  in  the  freeest  system  that 
exists.  Rhode  Island,  with  a  population  of  about  100,000, 
has  sixty-five  banks,  with  capitals  varying  from  $20,000  to 
$500,000:  and  the  combined  capital  is  above  $10,000,000. 


MAN   AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF   VALUE.  163 

Every  village  has  its  shoe-shop,  its  smith-shop,  and  its  mo- 
•fley-shop.  Every  man  has  at  hand  a  little  saving  fund,  or 
bank,  owned  generally  by  people  like  himself:  men  who 
work :  and  in  this  bank  he  deposits  his  little  savings,  buy- 
ing first  one  share,  and  then  another,  until  at  length  he  is 
enabled  to  buy  a  little  farm,  or  open  a  shop :  or  commence 
manufacturing  on  his  own  account :  when  he  sells  out  to 
some  one  of  his  neighbours  who  is  following  in  the  same 
course.*  The  bank  derives,  from  the  use  of  its  deposits  and 
from  its  circulation,  sufficient  profit  to  pay  its  expenses,  and 
no  more;  because  when  the  trade  in  money  is  free,  the  quan- 
tity of  idle  capital  remaining  in  the  form  of  money,  whether 
real  or  imaginary,  will  always  be  small ;  as  will  be  the  quan- 
tity of  circulation  required.  In  no  part  of.  the  world  is  the 
proportion  which  coin  and  notes  bear  to  the  amount  of  trade 
so  small  as  there,  and  in  the  other  States  of  New  England : 
yet  in  none  do  there  exist  such  perfect  facilities  for  furnishing 
circulation.  In  no  part  does  the  individual  banker  so  little 
appear.  In  none  does  the  bank  trade  so  much  upon  capital, 


*  The  following  statement  of  one  of  their  banks  shows  the  mann>     in 
which  the  small  institutions  of  New  England  are  owned  : — 


Females,    ------ 

-     2,438  shares. 
673      « 

-     1  245      « 

Guardians,          -         -         -         -         - 

630 

Charitable  institutions,          ... 
Corporations  and  State,  -         -         -         - 

548 
157 

Mariners,       ...... 

434 
•     2  03R 

Traders,          -         -         -         - 
Lawyers,   ------ 

191 
377 

220 

Total,         -        -        -        11, 045  share. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  any  thing  more  democratic. 


164  MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE. 

and  so  little  on  credit.  In  none,  consequently,  are  banks 
so  steady  and  so  safe. 

Perfect  freedom  in  the  employment  of  capital :  t^e  only 
true  regulator :  never  has  existed  anywhere,  to  its  full  extent, 
except  in  the  beautiful  system  under  which  that  State  has 
flourished,  and  has  been  enabled  to  maintain  a  currency  less 
subject  to  fluctuations  than  any  other  that  the  world  has  yet 
seen.  Of  all  the  communities  of  the  world,  it  is  the  one  that 
can  boast  of  the  greatest  number  of  banks,  and  greatest 
amount  of  capital  therein  invested,  in  proportion  to  its  popu- 
lation ;  and  it  can  show  that  its  banks,  because  of  the  perfect 
freedom  there  enjoyed,  and  because  of  the  free  exercise  of  the 
right  of  association  for  banking  and  other  purposes,  w^ere 
enabled  to  pass  through  the  calamitous  period  from  1835  to 
1842,  with  no  alteration  in  their  loans,  to  the  extent  of  even 
three  per  cent,  of  their  amount.  They  cannot  expand  im- 
properly, because  the  power  of  competition  is  complete,  and 
rival  institutions  would  follow  such  expansion:  and  they  are 
thus  shown  to  be  governed  by  the  same  law  which  forbids  the 
shoemaker  and  the  tailor,  by  charging  exorbitant  prices,  to 
afford  inducements  to  other  tailors  and  shoemakers  to  come 
and  "push  them  from  their  stools."  Not  having  the  power 
of  undue  expansion,  they  cannot  be  compelled  to  contract, 
and  thus  both  they  and  those  who  trade  with  them  exer- 
cise in  full  perfection  the  power  of  self-government.  Con- 
tractions not  being  required,  their  customers  do  not  fail,  nor 
do  they  fail  themselves :  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  the 
last  thirty-eight  years  of  war  and  commercial  convulsions, 
the  failures  have  been  but  two  in  number,  and  their  joint 
capitals  were  less  than  $50,000.  There,  the  machinery  of 
exchange  from  hand  to  hand  is  more  perfect,  and  less  costly 
than  elsewhere  in  the  world  :  and  simply  because,  there,  man 
and  land,  and  wealth,  are  least  fettered  by  regulation. 

The  system  of  Massachusetts  stands  next  in  the  order  of 
freedom  and  security.  It  is  less  free,  because  banking  capi- 


MAN   AND   HIS    STANDARD    OF  VALUE.  165 

tal  is  subject  to  a  tax  of  one  per  cent.,  which  limits  coi^.e- 
tition  to  that  point  at  which  banks  can  make  out  of  their 
circulation  and  deposits  two  and  a  half  percent,  in  addition 
to  the  six  per  cent,  earned  by  their  capital ;  whereas,  in  Rhode 
Island,  the  average  excess  of  loans  over  capital  is  but  little 
over  twenty-five  per  cent.,  yielding  seven  and  a  half  per  cent, 
of  gross  profit,  one  and  a  half  per  cent,  of  which  goes  to  the 
payment  of  losses  and  expenses,  and  to  the  gradual  accumula- 
tion of  surplus  funds.  Competition  produces  great  economy, 
and  the  losses  would  be  very  small,  had  the  other  states >  its 
neighbours,  the  same  free  system.  The  fluctuations  of  New 
York  and  Pennsylvania  often  ruin  the  traders  of  Rhode 
Island,  whose  banks  have  to  bear  losses  of  which  they  are 
not  the  cause,  but  they  nevertheless  divide  six  per  cent,  from 
a  business  exceeding  their  capitals  less  than  thirty  per  cent. 
The  banker  receives  the  same  rate  of  interest  that  the  trader 
pays  :  neither  more  nor  less.  There  is  little  friction  to  be 
paid  for.  The  machine  moves  with  a  steadiness  and  regu- 
larity unknown  in  the  world :  yet  every  other  state  and  king- 
dom might  have  one  equally  perfect,  were  they  to  adopt  the 
same  means  for  obtaining  it. 

As  we  pass  south  and  west  from  New  England,  we  find 
the  population  becoming  more  and  more  scattered,  and  more 
and  more  employed  in  cultivating  thin  soils,  while  sur- 
rounded by  forests  and  swamps  covering  rich  soils :  and 
with  each  step  in  our  progress  we  find  the  trade  in  money 
becoming  less  and  less  free,  the  quantity  of  the  machinery 
of  exchange  increasing,  and  its  quality  becoming  depre- 
ciated. 

New  York  has  had  a  variety  of  systems,  all  involving  care 
and  supervision  on  the  part  of  those  charged  with  the  busi- 
ness of  government,  the  natural  consequence  of  which  is, 
that  her  system  is  less  advantageous  to  the  community  than 
those  of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island,  where  the  people 
protect  themselves.  Under  her  present  system,  banks  are 
made  by  individuals,  and  the  saving  fund  character,  by 


166  MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF   VALUE. 

which  they  are  distinguished  in  New  England,  has  disap- 
peared, and  the  local  investment  of  capital  is  thus  prevented. 

Pennsylvania  is  the  favoured  land  of  banking  and  landed 
monopolies.  Large  banks  are  permitted  to  exist  while 
small  communities  throughout  the  state  are  denied  the  privi- 
lege of  opening  money  shops  for  themselves.  Capital  is 
forced  from  the  country  to  the  city,  where  it  accumulates, 
somewhat  as  it  does  in  England,  and  flows  off  to  the  south 
and  west,  there  to  be  dissipated  in  wasteful  enterprises : 
while  the  little  farmer  and  trader  of  the  interior  are  unable  to 
obtain  the  temporary  loans  necessary  to  enable  the  one  to  pur- 
chase manure,  and  the  other  to  increase  his  stock  of  axes 
and  spades,  shoes  and  coats.  Her  policy  is  suicidal.  She 
abounds  in  the  raw  material  of  wealth,  and  she  expels 
the  wealth  and  the  labour  required  to  bring  it  into  activity. 

Passing  further  south,  as  men  become  more  scattered,  and 
cultivate  poorer  soils,  land  is  less  divided,  and  the  facility 
of  investment  is  diminished  :  and  therewith  we  find  freedom 
of  trade  gradually  decreasing,  and  States  becoming  bankers, 
with  the  usual  results  of  great  instability,  enormous  loss  to  the 
owner  of  the  bank,  and  ruin  to  those  who  trade  with  it.  Pass- 
ing west,  we  find  on  the  outer  edge  of  civilization  the  least 
freedom  and  the  worst  machinery  of  exchange.  The  State  of 
Missouri  can  have  but  one  bank,  and  that  bank  will  not  fur- 
nish more  than  a  given  quantity  of  circulation,  be  the  increase 
of  population  and  trade  what  it  may.  It  would  have  been 
quite  as  judicious  in  the  framers  of  the  constitution  had  they 
determined  that  but  one  railroad  should  ever  exist  in  the 
state,  and  that  that  road  should  never  have  more  than  a  cer- 
tain number  of  engines  and  cars.  The  bank  note  facilitates 
the  transfer  of  property  from  hand  to  hand,  and  the  railroad 
car  its  transfer  from  place  to  place.  The  one  is  as  useful 
as  the  other,  and  quite  as  harmless :  as  much  so  as  the  shoe- 
shop. 


MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE.  167 

In  England,  the  investment  of  capital  has  been  at  all  times 
impeded  by  land.  In  many  cases,  nine-tenths  of  the  latter 
have  been  owned  by  persons  having  but  a  life-interest  there- 
in, and  liable  to  be  impeded  in  their  actions  or  contract,  by 
remainder-men.  In  many  others,  mortgagees  and  other 
parties  have  had  interests  at  variance  with  those  of  the 
nominal  owner.  In  most  others,  the  owner  of  the  remain- 
ing tenth  would  not  permit  a  drain  to  be  dug,  or  a  tile  to  be 
laid,  unless  he  were  permitted  to  take  a  tenth  of  the  whole 
product  of  labour  and  capital ;  while  paying  no  wages  to  the 
man  employed  in  the  work  of  improvement  or  cultivation. 
In  some,  great  landlords  owning  turnpikes  wanted  large 
tolls;  while  in  others  steam-engines  were  held  to  be  nui- 
sances ;  and  railroad  makers  were  regarded  as  enemies, 
to  be  kept  at  a  distance  unless  they  would  consent  to  pay 
largely  for  the  privilege  of  doubling  the  value  of  the  land 
through  which  their  roads  were  to  be  made  to  run. 

The  necessary  consequence  of  this  has  been,  that  the  ma- 
chinery of  exchange  has  been  very  abundant,  and  of  very 
inferior  quality.  All  facility  for  local  investment  has  been 
denied,  and  capital  has  been  forced  from  the  land  into 
great  towns  and  cities  filled  with  starving  operatives  living 
in  filthy  cellars,  whose  labour  wras  to  be  employed  in  con- 
verting cotton  produced  in  India  or  America,  into  cloth  to  be 
sent  to  America  or  Australia ;  to  be  there  exchanged  for  corn 
or  wool,  that  could  have  been  produced  at  half  the  cost  at 
home  :  while  their  employment  therein  would  have  tended  to- 
wards perfecting  the  great  machine  given  by  the  Creator  for 
the  production  of  food  and  wool.  To  ensure  the  continuance 
of  the  power  thus  to  waste  labour  and  capital,  colonies  have 
been  founded  and  maintained ;  and  the  flag  of  England  has 
been  enabled  to  disport  itself  over  barren  rocks  in  the  Medi- 
terranean, wild  lands  in  Canada,  and  wilder  lands  occupied 
by  wretched  tribes  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand,  South- 
ern Africa  and  Honduras :  at  the  cost  of  thousands  of  millions 
that  would  have  made  of  the  United  Kingdom  a  garden, 


168         MAN  AND  HIS  STANDARD  OF  VALUE. 

occupied  by  a  hundred  millions  of  the  best  fed,  best  clothed, 
and  best  educated  people  in  the  world.* 

The  machinery  of  exchange  used  for  the  accomplishment 
of  these  objects  has  been  as  costly  as  it  has  been  bad,  and  it 
has  absorbed  eight  hundred  millions  of  the  savings  of  the  peo- 
ple, in  addition  to  the  thousands  of  millions  raised  by  taxes. 
The  owners  of  those  eight  hundred  millions  require  divi- 
dends ;  and  the  fleets  and  armies,  which  constitute  a  part  of 
this  vast  system  ef  bad  machinery,  require  pay :  and  to 
provide  for  all  these  charges,  fifty  millions  a  year  are  re- 
quired. The  collection  of  the  taxes  required  for  these  pur- 
poses produces  a  demand  for  a  vast  quantity  of  inferior  ma- 
chinery, intermediate  between  the  producer  and  consumer, 
in  the  form  of  tax-gatherers  :  and  the  payment  of  these  con- 
tributions tends  to  render  necessary  another  large  quantity  of 
machinery,  in  the  form  of  managers  of  almshouses,  poor  law 
commissioners,  &c.,  who  take  the  produce  and  divide  it  among 
those  who  desire  to  consume,  but  cannot  find  employment : 
and  they  cannot  do  so  because  the  spades  and  picks  that  should 
be  employed  in  making  roads  and  trenches  at  home,  have  been 
sent  to  Canada,  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  or  Australia,  to  be 
there  employed  in  the  cultivation  of  the  thin  soils  of  the  hills, 
while  rich  soils  at  home  remain  unimproved  and  valueless. 

The  necessary  consequence  of  all  this  is  a  tendency  to 
cause  the  centralization  of  wealth  in  places  in  which  it  is  not 
produced  :  and  in  the  hands  of  those  who  have  not  laboured 
for  its  production  :  and  thus  to  cause  waste.  Added  to  this  is 
the  fact  that  the  mass  of  the  people  do  not  own  the  land  they 
cultivate.  Capital  accumulates  in  their  hands  from  the 
commencement  to  the  close  of  the  year,  to  be  distributed 
by  the  landlord,  who  gives  back  to  the  soil  a  small 
portion  of  its  product,  or  not,  at  his  pleasure ;  and  when  he 

*  The  colonies  of  England  are  forty-four  in  number,  and  their  annual  cost, 
exclusive  of  fleets  and  armies  kept  on  foot  for  their  protection,  exceeds  three 
millions,  while  the  whole  exports  to  them  are  only  ten  millions.  From  this 
statement  of  costs  and  trade,  India  is  excluded. 


MAN   AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE.  169 

chances  so  to  do,  he  calls  it  an  investment  of  capital  on  land ; 
thus  charging  all  and  crediting  nothing  to  the  great  machine. 
A  further  consequence  of  all  this  is,  that  the  quantity  of  the 
machinery  of  exchange  required,  in  the  form  of  money,  is 
large:  being  considerably  more  than  double  the  amount, 
per  head,  that  is  required  in  New  England,  although  under 
other  circumstances  it  would  be  less. 

To  add  to  the  stagnation  and  centralization  thus  produced, 
the  habit  of  local  union  among  the  little  communities  through- 
out the  kingdom  is,  as  far  as  possible,  restrained  by  law,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  larger  unions  in  the  metropolis ;  and  for  that 
of  the  larger  capitalists,  bankers,  manufacturers,  and  traders 
there  and  in  the  principal  towns.  Centralization  is  the  rule. 
The  law  fixes  the  manner  in  which  men  may  be  permitted 
to  unite  for  the  purposes  of  trade,  and  what  shall  be  the  re- 
lation of  the  partners  towards  each  other,  and  towards  the 
world :  and  no  effort  at  self-government  can  enable  the  par- 
ties to  avoid  that  law.  But  recently,  the  formation  of  joint- 
stock  associations,  with  transferable  shares,  was  prohibited 
on  any  terms.  Twenty  years  since,  not  more  than  six  per- 
sons could  associate  for  opening  a  place  for  dealing  in 
money,  even  if  all  were  liable  for  the  debts  of  the  concern : 
and  all  this  was  for  the  benefit  of  a  large  association  to  which 
had  been  granted  exemption  from  the  restrictions  imposed  by 
previous  laws.  About  that  time,  however,  men  were  per- 
mitted to  associate  in  larger  numbers  for  the  formation  of 
banks,  but  on  the  sole  condition  that  each  associate  should 
be  liable  for  all  the  debts  of  the  concern :  thus  maintaining 
in  full  force  the  barbarous  system  of  unlimited  liability :  soli- 
dariti :  that  had  descended  from  olden  time.  The  mainte- 
nance of  this  involved  a  thousand  other  regulations,  and  hence 
arose  a  necessity  for  various  new  laws  to  determine  the  re- 
lation of  the  parties  to  each  other  :  yet  they  remain  to  this  day 
in  a  condition  so  little  satisfactory,  that  parties  who  desire  to 
associate  are  forced  to  resort  to  various  contrivances  with  a 
view  to  procure  some  approach  to  safety.  The  necessary 

15 


170  MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE. 

consequence  of  all  this  is,  that  prudent  men  take  no  part  in 
such  institutions.  They  deposit  their  money  for  safe  keep- 
ing, receiving  no  interest,  while  the  bankers  lend  out  both  it 
and  their  own  very  little  capital,  and  thus  are  enabled  to 
divide  double  interest. 

The   result  of   all   this   may  be    seen   by  the    following 
comparison  of  the  system  of  Rhode  Island,  and  that  of  the 
joint-stock  banks  of  London,  the  great  centre  of  the  trade 
of  the  world. 
The  sixty-five  banks  of  Rhode  Island  have  a 

capital  of  about $10,300,000 

The  amount  of  their  investments  is  usually  about  13,000,000 
Their  dividends  are  about  six  per  cent.,  affording  the  same 
rate  of  interest  as  could  be  obtained  from  loans  on  mortgage 
security,  as  there  is  no  liability  to  be  paid  for. 
The  five  joint-stock  banks  of  London  have  a  nominal  capi- 
tal of 55,000,000 

Of  which  there  is  paid  up 11,700,000 

Each  shareholder  being  individually  liable  for  all  the 
debts,  it  is  attempted  to  free  him  from  the  responsibility  by 
making  him  and  his  brother  shareholders  subscribe  for  £100, 
of  which  but  about  .£20  is  called  in :  and  thus,  instead  of 
a  capital  of  a  million,  we  find  one  amounting  to  £200,000, 
while  the  remaining  £800,000  consists  of  promises  to  pay  ; 
but  these  promises  involve  liabilities,  for  wrhich  the  givers 
expect  to  be  paid.  They,  therefore,  trade  to  as  great  an 
extent  as  if  they  had  the  whole  million.  Their  deposits 
amount  to  about  £10,000,000,  nearly  the  whole  of  which 
vast  sum  is  lent  out,  liable  to  be  reclaimed  whenever  any 
change  takes  place  in  the  state  of  affairs ;  and  thus  while 
the  actual  capital  of  the  five  great  banks  is  little  more  than 
is  found  engaged  in  the  money  trade  of  the  little  State  in 
which  banking  is  most  free,  the  amount  of  their  loans 
is  four  times  as  great,  being  probably  .£11,000,000, — 
$53,000,000.  Their  dividends  are  from  six  to  eight  per  cent., 
in  addition  to  the  sums  that  are  appropriated  to  the  increase 


MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF   VALUE.  171 

of  their  capital :  whereas  mortgage  loans  yield  but  four  per 
cent.  Of  the  depositors,  some  receive  a  small  interest,  and 
some  have  none,  they  having  thus  to  contribute  towards  the 
dividends  of  the  men  who  take  large  risks  in  hopes  of  re- 
ceiving large  profits  :  of  those  who  prefer  the  uncertain  pro- 
fits of  the  gaming-table  to  the  certain  ones  of  regular  em- 
ployment. Were  those  banks  freed  from  barbarous  liabilities, 
the  whole  amount  of  their  capitals  would  be  at  once  paid  up, 
as  depositors  would  gladly  convert  their  almost  unpro- 
ductive capital  into  bank  shares  paying  four  per  cent.  To 
yield  such  dividend  would  require  a  business  not  exceed- 
ing their  own  means  by  more  than  thirty  per  cent. :  and 
their  shares  would  then,  because  of  the  perfect  safety  of  the 
institutions  and  perfect  certainty  of  dividend,  constitute  a  se- 
curity of  the  highest  order.  Were  chartered  banks  once  to  be 
formed  under  a  general  law,  it  would  soon  be  seen  that  in- 
stitutions with  large  capitals  and  small  liabilities  were  safer 
for  their  owners,  because  steadier  in  their  .action:  and  safer 
for  those  who  trade  with  them :  than  such  institutions  as 
those  which  now  exist,  and  which  resemble  an  inverted 
pyramid,  all  top  and  no  bottom  ;  and  the  latter  would  soon 
pass  out  of  existence,  for  no  one  would  trust  them.* 

Under  such  a  system,  joint-stock  banks  are  held  in  little 
favour,  and  private  banks  abound ;  and  here  we  see  in  full 
force  the  effect  of  regulation.  We  have  shown  that  in 
Rhode  Island,  out  of  sixty-five  banks,  but  two  failed  in 
thirty-eight  years,  including  the  periods  of  war  and  of  the 
great  revulsions  of  1815,  1825,  1836,  and  1839:  whereas,  in 
England,  from  1839  to  1843,  both  inclusive,  a  time  of  pro- 

*  "  The  year  1836  marked  the  widest  spread  and  extremity  of  the 
[joint-stock  bank]  system,  and  nothing  has  since  been  able  to  revive  it, 
so  as  to  make  it  a  favourite  object  of  public  patronage,  although,  as  we 
believe,  joint-stock  banks  were,  on  the  whole,  never  in  so  sound  and  satis- 
factory a  condition  as  they  are  at  this  instant  of  time.  This  want  of 
power  to  compete  for  public  favour  with  the  other  new  thing,  the  railway 
system,  is  no  doubt  owing  to  the  unlimited  liability  of  shareholders,  in  banks, 
and  the  absence  of  that  obnoxious  principle  in  railways." — Bankers'  drew 
lar,  January  8,  1847. 


172  MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE. 

found  peace,  eighty-two  private  bankers  became  bankrupt ; 
of  whom  forty-six  paid  no  dividends,  twelve  paid  under 
twenty-five  per  cent.,  twelve  under  fifty  per  cent.,  three  under 
seventy-five  per  cent.,  and  two  under  one  hundred  per  cent. : 
leaving  seven  yet  unascertained. 

Under  the  one  system  capital  is  promptly  invested  where 
it  is  accumulated.  It  falls  gently  as  the  dew,  and  it  dif- 
fuses life  and  animation  everywhere  around.  Every  village 
having  its  money-shop,  owned  in  the  neighbourhood,  the 
little  capitalist  is  not  compelled  to  send  his  money  to  Bos- 
ton, or  New  York,  for  investment.  The  consequence  is, 
that  every  farmer  and  mechanic  who  wishes  the  aid  of  a 
little  capital  can  have  it,  provided  his  character  entitles  him 
to  claim  it.*  In  England,  on  the  contrary,  there  is  a  constant 
tendency  to  the  centralization  of  capital  in  London,  because 
of  the  difficulty  attendant  upon  investing  it  at  home.  Of  the 
3,013  shareholders  in  the  five  joint-stock  banks  of  that  city, 
1,106  reside  at  more  than  fifteen  miles  from  it.  The  natural 
tendency  of  capital  is  to  accumulate  in  towns,  and  to  be 
from  thence  distributed  over  the  country,  equalizing  the  rate 
of  interest  to  all  portions  of  the  nation  ;  and  such  would  be 
the  case  in  England,  were  banking  free  :  but  the  tendency  of 
the  present  system  is  to  force  capital  from  the  country  to  the 
city,  and  to  increase  the  inequality  that  would  naturally  exist. 
It  is  offered  in  London  at  one  and  a  half  to  two  per  cent., 
when  in  parts  of  the  country  it  is  almost  unattainable  at 
any  price.  The  same  state  of  things  exists  in  many  parts 
of  the  United  States.  In  Pennsylvania,  because  of  the  re- 
fusal to  permit  the  establishment  of  local  banks,  large  sums 

*The  little  bank  of  the  little  town  in  which  we  write,  with  its  capital  of  $50,000, 
has  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  stockholders,  embracing  all  the  little  capitalists, 
farmers,  and  lawyers,  and  widows,  and  orphans,  and  tailors,  and  shoemakers, 
of  the  neighbourhood.  It  divides  six  per  cent. — precisely  what  the  borrowers 
pay — and  its  stock  is  at  par.  Each  owner  profits  by  the  local  application  of 
his  capicai,  in  the  increased  demand  for  labour  and  merchandise  that  is  thereby 
produced :  and  each  participates,  through  directors  with  whose  characters  he 
is  acquainted,  in  the  management  of  his  capital.  Such  institutions  produce 
unmixed  good :  and  such  would  be  the  character  of  all  were  banking  once 
set  free  from  the  control  of  politicians. 


MAN   AND    HIS    STANDARD   OF    VALUK.  J  73 

are  remitted  to  Philadelphia,  to  be  employed  in  building  up 
great  banks  :  while  farmers,  and  mechanics,  and  traders,  can 
scarcely  borrow  at  any  price,  because  they  have  no  money- 
shop  within  fifty  miles  of  them.  The  capitalist  receives  less 
than  he  would  otherwise  do,  and  his  property  improves 
slowly,  because  his  neighbours  cannot  obtain  the  means  to 
improve  their  own  little  farms ;  to  increase  their  machinery  ; 
or  to  augment  their  stores  of  goods.  Capital  accumulates  in 
the  city,  and  the  rate  of  interest  falls.  Large  investments 
are  then  made  in  distant  banks  or  railroads,  and  after  a  little 
time  he  finds  that  his  means  are  gone  :  tha.t  the  great  banks 
and  himself  are  ruined  together.  Such  is  precisely  the  case 
in  England.  Capital  is  forced,  by  means  of  regulation,  into 
the  city,  there  to  be  managed  by  the  great  bank,  and  to  be 
by  it  expelled  thence  to  Spain,  Mexico,  Peru,  Chili,  In- 
diana, and  Illinois  ;  whereas,  had  the  currency  been  left  to 
take  care  of  itself,  and  had  land  and  trade  been  relieved 
from  restriction,  employment  for  it  would  have  been  found 
at  home.  There  would  then  never  have  arisen  the  necessity  for 
threats  of  interference  on  the  part  of  the  ever-belligerent 
Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs,  to  compel  the  re-payment  of 
money  which  would  not  have  been  lent  but  for  the  med- 
dling of  legislators  and  politicians  with  the  affairs  of  indi- 
viduals. 

Under  such  a  system,  steadiness  in  the  value  of  the  com- 
modity used  as  the  standard  for  the  measurement  of  the 
values  of  commodities,  was  impossible  ;  but  instead  of  per- 
ceiving that  unsteadiness  was  produced  by  restriction  and 
regulation,  it  was  erroneously  attributed  to  the  excess  of 
freedom,  and  a  new  system  was  established  by  the  celebrated 
Bank  Restriction  Act  of  1844.  To  the  movements  of  the 
one  great  bank  have  mainly  been  due  all  the  violent  revul- 
sions in  trade  throughout  the  world,  whose  effects  upon  the 
United  States  we  have  already  described.  What  have  been 
the  causes  of  the  extraordinary  changes  that  produced 
those  revulsions  we  propose  now  to  show :  as  well  as  to  in- 

15* 


174  MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE. 

quire  how  far  the  new  system  tends  to  prevent  their  further 
recurrence. 

Under  the  old  charter  of  the  Bank,  great  inconvenience  and 
loss  were  experienced  by  the  mercantile  world  from  the  ex- 
traordinary fluctuations  in  the  supply  and  value  of  money. 
At  one  moment  it  appeared  to  be  so  abundant  as  to  be  almost 
valueless.  Vast  sums  remained  in  bank  at  the  credit  of  in- 
dividuals, yielding  them  no  return ;  and  the  bank  itself  was 
soliciting  applications  for  loans,  at  low  rates  of  interest.  It 
\vas  then  forced  out  in  loans  to  all  the  poor  sovereigns  of 
Europe.  A  few  months  passed  by,  and  the  bank  was  charging 
almost  double  the  usual  interest  on  the  best  paper,  and  forcing 
out  the  securities  which  it  had  laboured  to  monopolize.  By 
those  who  had  securities  of  the  first  order,  money  was  to  be 
obtained  with  exceeding  difficulty;  while,  by  those  who  held 
such  as  were  of  the  second  order,  it  was  unattainable  at  any 
price.  A  little  time  elapsed,  and  trade  was  paralyzed.  Mo- 
ney was  then  again  cheap,  and  it  was  sent  to  the  mines  of 
Mexico  ;  and  then  again  a  little  time,  and  it  was  dear.  Again 
cheap,  it  was  sent  to  make  roads  and  canals  in  Illinois,  and 
banks  in  Mississippi  and  Alabama.  Again  dear,  the  bank  was 
seen  labouring  to  save  itself  from  ruin,  and  sauve  qui  pent 
was  the  order  of  the  day. 

On  the  verge  of  suspension,  in  1836,  and  escaping  only  by 
the  adoption  of  measures  that  involved  in  ruin  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  trading  world  at  home ;  it  was  seen,  as  early  as 
1839,  enlarging  its  loans  in  the  face  of  a  steady  drain  of  bul- 
lion, indicating  an  already  existing  excess  in  the  currency, 
and  thus  involving  itself  in  difficulty  so  serious  as  to  compel 
resort  to  measures  of  severity  far  exceeding  those  of  the  for- 
mer period .  Hosts  of  shopkeepers  and  mechanics,  merchants 
and  manufacturers,  were  ruined;  operatives,  in  countless 
thousands,  were  deprived  of  employment  and  reduced  to 
starvation;  and  the  best  of  the  foreign  customers  of  England 
so  seriously  injured,  that  for  a  time  trade  seemed  almost  at  an 
end.  Severe  as  were  these  measures,  the  desired  effect  was 


MAN   AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF   VALUE.  175 

not  immediately  produced ;  and  the  great  bank,  the  regulator 
of  the  monetary  concerns  of  the  greatest  mercantile  commu- 
nity of  the  world,  was  seen  to  be  forced,  on  bended  knees, 
to  solicit  the  aid  of  its  great  neighbour  and  rival,  the  Bank 
of  France,  to  save  it  from  absolute  bankruptcy. 

The  frequency  and  extraordinary  extent  of  these  changes, 
induced  a  proper  feeling  of  doubt  as  to  the  capacity  of  those 
to  whom  had  been  intrusted  the  management  of  the  currency ; 
and  a  strong  disposition  was  felt  to  ascertain  by  what  laws, 
if  any  there  were,  the  institution  was  governed.  A  Parliamen- 
tary committee  was  appointed,  and  niftnerous  sittings  were 
held.  Witnesses  were  examined,  for  and  against  the  bank; 
and  a  huge  volume  of  evidence  was  printed,  much  of  which 
was  strange  enough  certainly,  as  coming  from  men  who 
might  have  been  supposed  to  know  some  little  of  the  laws  of 
trade.  With  all  the  evidence,  the  committee  failed  to  dis- 
cover the  law  that  was  desired.  The  only  conclusion  at 
which  it  was  possible  for  it  to  arrive  was,  that  the  institu- 
tion was  administered  without  reference  to  any  principle 
whatsoever :  that  its  movements  were  invariably  those  of  mo- 
mentary expediency:  and  that  the  dangers  and  difficulties 
which  had  occurred  were  likely  to  be  repeated  at  the  first  fa- 
vourable moment.  Such  having  been  clearly  shown  to  be 
the  case,  even  by  the  evidence  of  the  governor  of  the  bank 
himself,  it  was  deemed  necessary,  on  the  renewal  of  the 
charter,  to  endeavour  to  subject  its  action  to  some  certain 
law :  thus  fitting  it  to  become  the  regulator  of  the  action 
of  others  :  and  hence  the  Bank  Restriction  Acts.  Those  acts 
are  not  yet  three  years  old,  and  the  same  scene  is  renewred. 
A  period  of  frightful  speculation  is  followed  by  universal 
panic.  Consols,  but  recently  at  par,  are  now  at  80.  The 
government  is  forced  to  pay  five  per  cent,  for  money.  Rail- 
road stock  has  fallen,  in  many  cases,  twenty  to  thirty  per 
cent.  The  best  paper  cannot  be  negotiated  at  less  than  ten 
to  fifteen  per  cent,  per  annum.  Bank  notes  cannot  be  ob- 
tained even  for  silver  bullion.  Dealers  in  corn,  and  cotton, 


176  MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE. 

and  bullion,  are  again  proscribed.  Deputations  from  Liver- 
pool and  Manchester  claim  of  the  minister  a  suspension  of 
the  law,  and  he  is  assured  that  large  orders  remain  unexe- 
cuted, because  of  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  the  means 
necessary  for  their  execution,  while  operatives  are  starving 
for  want  of  employment.  The  bank  itself,  with  bankruptcy 
staring  it  in  the  face,  is  compelled  to  enlarge  its  loans  when 
it  would  contract  them  ;  and  thus  is  exhibited,  for  the  third 
time  within  little  more  than,  ten  years,  the  spectacle  of  a  great 
regulator  utterly  unable  to  control  its  own  movements.  It 
has  hopes,  however,  «in  aid  from  the  Russian  autocrat.  He 
has  already  saved  the  regulator  of  France,  and  he  promises 
to  do  as  much  for  that  of  England.  The  great  community 
of  Britain  see,  in  the  promised  aid  of  two  millions,  a  prospect 
of  relief!  The  bank  becomes  "  more  liberal  in  its  dis- 
counts." "The  screw"  is  not  so  tight.  They  think  they 
see  that  the  regulator  may  save  itself  without  utterly  destroy- 
ing them  ;  and  bright  hope  gladdens  the  face  of  thousands, 
in  reflecting  upon  the  idea  that  the  Czar  is  enabled,  by  means 
of  the  issue  of  bank  notes,  adapted  for  the  purposes  of  small 
traders  as  well  as  large  ones,  to  dispense  with  the  use  of  gold 
to  such  an  extent  as  to  enable  him  to  become  a  creditor  of 
their  own  government ;  and  to  entitle  himself  to  an  annual 
remittance  of  .£60,000,  in  payment  of  interest  on  the  pro- 
mised loan  :  whereas  similar  action  on  their  own  part  would 
render  available  a  much  larger  amount  of  their  own  capital, 
free  of  all  demand  for  interest,  thus  lessening  the  cost  of  the 
machinery  of  exchange,  and  increasing  the  power  of  pro- 
duction. 

A  brief  interval  of  expansion  is  followed  by  another  con- 
traction. At  one  moment,  interest  is  reduced  to  five  per  cent., 
and  at  the  next  it  is  raised  to  nine.  At  one,  exchequer  bills 
are  in  favour.  At  the  next,  they  are  proscribed.  From  hour 
to  hour  the  system  changes,  and  universal  ruin  is  the  result. 

Such  is  the  condition  of  the  people  of  England  under  the 
control  of  its  great  bank.  They  are  dependent  upon  the 
chance  measures  of  a  body  of  gentlemen,  no  one  of  whom 


MAN   AND 'HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE.  177 

has  ever  yet,  so  far  as  we  have  seen,  been  able  to  explain  the 
principles  by  which  they  are  governed  in  the  administration 
of  the  vast  machine  subjected  to  their  control. 

The  Bank  Restriction  Act  has  failed  to  produce  the  effect 
desired.  It  has  given  no  steadiness  to  the  value  of  money. 
By  one  party,  the  fault  is  attributed  to  the  law  itself;  while 
by  another,,  it  is  asserted,  that  if  the  bank  had  acted  "  in 
the  spirit  of  the  law  of  1844,"  the  difficulty  would  not 
have  occurred.  Such  are  the  words  of  the  author  of  the 
law,  who  attributes  the  pressure  to  the  extraordinary  spirit 
of  speculation  that  has  recently  existed ;  to  the  scarcity  of 
corn;  and  to  other  causes :  and  who,  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected, is  willing  to  see  it  in  any  cause  but  the  real  one, 
which  is  to  be  found  in  the  radical  defect  of  his  own  mea- 
sure. It  professed  to  regulate  the  action  of  the  bank ;  and, 
had  it  done  so,  the  directors  would  have  found  themselves 
compelled  to  act  in  accordance  with  its  letter  and  its  spirit :  and 
then  there  could  have  been  no  such  speculation  as  that  we  have 
recently  witnessed.  Had  it  done  so,  the  difficulties  naturally- 
attendant  upon  short  crops  would  not  have  been  aggravated, 
.as  they  now  are,  by  the  total  prostration  of  trade,  the  discharge 
of  workmen,  and  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  wages  to  be 
used  in  the  purchase,  at  any  price,  of  the  necessaries  of  life. 

The  trade  in  money  requires  no  more  law  than  that,  in 
shoes.  It  requires,  on  the  contrary,  perfect  freedom,  be- 
cause it  is  so  vastly  greater  in  amount*  that  interference  to 
the  extent  of  one-half  of  one  per  cent,  is  there  more  felt  than 
in  the  other  would  be  one  amounting  to  a  hundred  per  cent. 
The  tendency  of  gold  and  silver  to  steadiness  in  value  is  the 
great  recommendation  which  they  possess,  entitling  them 
to  claim  to  be  used  for  measuring  the  value  of  all  other 
commodities  ;  and  were  the  trade  in  money  perfectly  free, 


*  Every  contract  for  the  purchase  or  sale  of  any  commodity,  or  propertyr 
involves  a  contract  for  the  delivery  of  a  quantity  of  money  equivalent  to  the 
price.  The  trade  in  money  is  therefore  equal  in  amount  to  the  sum  of  the 
prices  of  all  commodities,  and  properties,  and  labor,  sold. 


178         MAN  AND  HIS  STANDARD  OF  VALUE. 

they  would  constitute  standards  almost  as  perfect  as  does  the 
yard-stick  as  a  measure  of  length,  or  the  bushel  as  a  measure 
of  capacity.  On  an  average,  the  whole  quantity  of  corn,  and 
cotton,  and  sugar,  in  market,  in  any  year,  is  consumed  in  the 
year,  and  a  failure  of  crop  may  make  a  change  of  fifty, 
or  even  of  a  hundred,  per  cent,  iri  the  price ;  whereas,  the 
quantity  of  gold  and  silver  always  in  market — and  which  can 
be  kept  there  because  they  are  not  subject  to  rust,  or  decay — 
is  more  than  a  hundred  times  the  quantity  required  for  a 
year's  consumption :  and  a  total  failure  of  the  year's  crop 
should  not  affect  it  to  the  extent  of  even  one  per  cent. 
Nevertheless,  such  are  the  penalties,  prohibitions,  liabilities, 
and  other  restrictions,  to  which  traders  in  money  are  sub- 
jected :  so  numerous  and  powerful  are  the  monopolies  esta- 
blished for  their  regulation :  that  of  all  trades  that  in  money  is 
the  least  steady  :  and  of  all  commodities,  money  is  the  most 
subject  to  sudden*  alteration  in  supply,  and  consequently  in 
value,  as  compared  with  other  commodities.  It  is  a  yard- 
stick, of  perpetually  changing  length  :  a  gallon  measure, 
that  contains  sometimes  three  quarts,  and  at  other  times  six, 
or  even  twelve.  The  regulation  of  the  currency  is  held  to 
be  one  of  the  functions  of  government,  because,  in  past 
times,  all  sovereigns  have  found  it  to  be  a  convenient  mode  of 
taxation.  Philip  the  Fair  changed  the  coinage  thirteen  times 
in  a  single  year,  and  more  than  a  hundred  times  during  his 
reign.  Louis  X.,  Charles  IV.,  Philip  V.  and  VI.,  John,  and 
their  successors,  almost  to  the  Revolution,  followed  the  illus- 
trious example.  In  England,  similar  changes  have  been 
made,  but  to  a  much  smaller  extent,  France  having  been,  at 
all  times,  distinguished  among  the  countries  of  Europe  for 
frauds  of  that  and  other  kinds.  All  the  governments  of  Eu- 
rope, great  and  small,  have,  at  various  times,  done  the  same 
thing ;  and  hence  their  claim,  still  maintained,  to  execute, 
either  by  themselves  or  their  deputies,  the  same  profitable 
office.  That  of  England  transfers  the  duty  to  the  bank, 
which  institution  performs  it  in  such  a  manner  that  at  one 


MAN   AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF   VALUE.  179 

time  money  is  cheap,  and  the  State  is  enabled  to  compel  the 
owners  of  three  and  a  half  per  cents,  to  receive  three  per 
cents,  in  exchange,  and  thus  to  effect  a  large  saving  of  inte- 
rest :  while  at  another  time  money  is  dear,  and  the  owners 
of  the  new  stock  find  they  have  been  juggled  out  of  their 
property.  We  do  not  desire  to  say  that  such  is  the  object 
sought  in  the  production  of  these  extraordinary  changes, 
but  such  is  certainly  their  effect:  and  good  reasons  can 
always  be  given  for  them.  At  one  time,  it  is  the  enormous 
import  of  stocks  from  the  continent ;  at  another,  the  influx 
of  South  American  shares  and  stocks  ;  at  a  third,  the  vast 
loans  to  the  United  States  ;  and  at  a  fourth,  the  deficiency 
of  the  crops  ;  but  stocks  would  not  come  if  money  were  not 
made  too  cheap,  and  corn  might  be  deficient  without  pro- 
ducing any  material  change  in  the  value  of  money,  except 
as  regarded  corn  itself.  If  the  supply  of  sugar  were  small, 
the  price  of  sugar  itself  would  rise,  and  there  would  be 
somewhat  less  money  to  be  exchanged  against  cloth,  the 
price  of  which  would  slightly  fall ;  and  so,  if  the  supply  of 
grain 'were  short,  there  would  be  less  money  to  be  exchanged 
against  sugar ;  but  in  no  case  would  a  deficiency  in  one 
commodity  materially  affect  the  prices  of  other  commodities, 
were  the  currency  let  alone.  The  true  reason  is,  that  the 
task  of  regulation  is  committed  to  one  great  institution, 
whose  movements  are  totally  unregulated.  It  monopolizes 
securities  at  one  time,  and  produces  an  apparent  excess,  and 
consequent  cheapness,  of  money.  It  forces  them  back  upon 
the  market,  when  much  of  this  apparent  excess  has  found 
employment  in  new  enterprises,  to  which  resort  would  not 
otherwise  have  been  had,  and  now  the  scarcity  is  equal  to 
the  previous  abundance.  It  is  a  great  fly-wheel  in  the  midst 
of  an  infinite  number  of  little  wheels,  all  of  which  are  com- 
pelled to  go  fast  or  slow  as  the  master- wheel  may  direct.  If 
its  own  movement  could  be  rendered  uniform,  all  would  work 
harmoniously  ;  but  if  it  must  continue  to  be,  as  it  has  here- 
tofore been,  subjected  to  perpetual  jerks,  and  to  changes  from 


180         MAN  AND  HIS  STANDARD  OF  VALUE. 

backward  to  forward  motion,  and  vice  versa,  from  forward  to 
backward,  the  inevitable  consequence  must  also  continue  to  be 
the  destruction  of  many  of  the  little  ones :  and  eventually,  per- 
haps, it  may  be  that  of  the  great  one.  These  little  wheels  are 
the  bankers,  and  merchants,  and  manufacturers  of  England : 
of  the  United  States:  and  of  the  world:  who  have  been  for  a 
long  time  engaged  in  studying  the  law  which  governs  the 
motion  of  the  great  fly-wheel,  but  with  so  little  success,  as 
yet,  that  we  hazard  little  in  asserting  that  there  is  no  man  in 
England,  in  or  out  of  the  bank,  that  would  commit  that  law 
to  writing,  and  stake  his  fortune  on  proving  that  it  had  been 
operative  during  any  one  period  of  twelve  months  in  the  last 
twenty  years.  In  despair  of  arriving  at  any  comprehension 
of  the  laws  of  its  action,  all  resign  themselves  blindly  to  its 
influence,  and  the  error  of  the  great  regulator  is  propagated 
throughout  the  whole  system.  Joint  stock  and  private  banks 
expand  when  it.  expands,  and  contract  as  it  contracts ;  and  an 
error  of  a  single  million  in  Threadneedle-street  thus  pro- 
duces error ^to  the  extent  of  tens  of  millions  in  the  money 
transactions  of  the  kingdom.  Hence  the  necessity  for  sub- 
jecting it  to  fixed  and  positive  rules.  The  currency  needs 
no  such  regulator,  but  if  such  an  one  must  continue  to  exist, 
its  action  should  be  rendered  perfectly  automatic :  leaving  it 
then  to  the  proprietors  of  the  little  wheels  to  use  such  gear- 
ing as  would  enable  them  to  attain  as  much  or  as  little  speed 
as  they  might  respectively  require.  It  should  be  acted  upon 
by  the  community,  instead  of  acting  itself  upon  them,  and 
then  it  might  be  consulted  with  the  same  confidence  as  the 
thermometer.  The  law  that  should  produce  this  effect, 
would  not  be  that  of  1844,  which,  with  all  its  machinery  of 
banking  department,  and  department  of  issue,  has  totally 
failed  to  answer  the  end  proposed.  It  has  failed,  because  it 
was  framed  with  a  view  to  changes  in  the  amount  of  currency 
in  use,  which  are  ever  slow,  and  small  in  amount:  while  it 
contained  no  reference  to  changes  in  the  currency  seeking 
employment,  which  have  always  been  rapid,  and  great  in 


MAN   AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF   VALUE.  181 

amount.*  It  made  the  bullion  of  the  bank  dependent  upon 
the  circulation  which  is  in  constant  use  among  the  great  body 
of  tne  people,  and  cannot  be  materially  increased  or  de- 
creased, without  a  great  change  in  the  state  of  trade,  or  in 


*  It  is  curious  to  see  in  the  evidence  of  eminent  bankers  the  reasons  ad- 
duced for  thinking  that  deposits— convertible  on  the  instant  into  notes  or 
gold — are  not  as  much  currency  as  notes  or  gold  themselves.  One  among 
the  most  learned  of  the  bank  directors,  thought  that  they  could  not  be  sc 
considered,  for  the  owner  "  could  not  pay  his  laborers  with  them,"  nor  could 
he  do  with  them  <•  whatever  he  could  do  with  sovereigns  and  shillings."  He 
thought,  however,  that  they  possessed  «  the  essential  qualities  of  money  in  a 
very  low  degree."  The  "essential  quality  of  money"  is  that  of  facilitating 
the  transfer  of  property,  and  that  quality  is  possessed  in  a  higher  degree  by 
the  bank  note  than  by  gold  and  silver;  and  in  a  still  higher  degree  by  the 
check  than  by  the  note  :  for  the  owner  of  money  on  deposit  draws  for  the 
precise  number  of  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence  required,  and  transfers  them, 
without  the  trouble  of  handling  or  counting  even  a  single  penny.  It  is 
curious,  too,  to  remark  the  strong  tendency  existing  in  the  minds  of  many  of 
the  witnesses,  distinguished  in  the  monetary  circles  of  London,  to  confound 
notes  of  hand,  and  bills,  with  currency.  A  note  is  a  contract  for  the  delivery, 
at  some  future  day,  of  a  given  quantity  of  money,  or  currency.  Its  value,  in 
money,  depends  on  the  proportion  between  the  money  and  bills  in  market, 
and  is  just  as  much  liable  to  variation  as  that  of  sugar  or  coffee.  If  money 
be  plenty,  and  bills,  or  coffee,  or  sugar  scarce,  the  price  of  the  article  in  which 
the  deficiency  of  supply  exists,  will  be  high ;  but  if  sugar,  or  coffee,  or  bills,  be 
abundant,  and  money  be  scarce,  the  price  of  the  superabundant  commodity 
will  be  low.  Notes  may  be  bartered  for  merchandise,  as  is  done  in  England 
to  a  great  extent;  but  an  increase  in  the  supply  of  notes  in  the  market, 
although  it  may  materially  affect  the  credit  price  of  commodities :  or  the  price 
in  barter  for  promises  to  deliver  money  at  some  future  day  :  will  make  no 
change  in  their  money  prices,  unless  there  exist  a  facility  for  converting  the 
notes  into  money.  In  time  of  severe  pressure,  there  is  great  facility  in  bar- 
tering merchandise  for  notes;  but  want  of  confidence  induces  the  holders  to 
fix  the  prices  very  high,  with  a  view  to  cover  the  cost  and  risk  attendant  upon 
the  conversion  of  notes  into  the  commodity  that  is  needed,  which  is  money, 
or  currency  :  the  thing  with  which  they  must  redeem  their  own  obligations. 
The  term  currency  means  money  on  the  spot,  and  in  England,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  silver  coinage  for  small  payments,  nothing  is  recognised  as  money 
but  gold,  which  passes  from  hand  to  hand,  either  by  actual  delivery  of  the 
coin,  or  by  the  transfer  of  the  property  in  a  certain  portion  of  that  which 
exists  in  the  vaults  of  banks  and  bankers:  by  means  of  private  drafts,  or  checks, 
or  by  that  of  obligations  of  the  bank  itself,  called  bank  notes.  A  contract  for 
the  delivery  of  flour  at  a  future  day  might,  with  the  same  propriety,  be  called 
flour,  as  a  contract  for  the  delivery,  at  a  future  day,  of  a  certain  quantity  of 
ihe  commodity  which  is  current  for  the  payment  of  debts,  and  which  we  caL1 
money,  can  be  called  money,  or  currency,  itself. 

The  difficulties  of  the  bank  result  from  the  fact  that,  whenever  speculation 

16 


182        MAN  AND  HIS  STANDARD  OF  VALUE. 

the  feelings  of  the  people ;  instead  of  making  it  dependent 
upon  the  deposits  of  unemployed  capital,  the  property  of  the 
few,  which  are  liable  to  increase  or  decrease  by  every  change 
of  weather,  and  by  every  speck  that  appears  in  the  political 
or  commercial  horizon. 

By  the  new  charter,  the  quantity  of  bullion  to  be  held  is 
made  dependent  entirely  on  the  state  of  the  circulation ;  a 
sovereign,  or,  to  a  certain  extent,  its  equivalent  in  silver, 
being  required  to  lie  in  the  vaults  of  the  bank  for  every 
pound  of  its  notes  that  is  in  the  hands  of  the  public  beyond 
the  sum  of  .£14,000,000.  An  examination  of  the  operations  of 
the  bank,  shows  the  circulation  an  almost  constant  quantity, 
amounting,  since  the  date  of  that  charter,  to  .£20,000,000  ; 
and  so  long  as  the  public  shall  insist  upon  keeping  it  at 
that  point,  £6,000,000  of  bullion  must  remain  in  the  bank, 
not  to  be  used  under  any  circumstances  whatsoever:  and 
of  little  more  value  to  the  community,  while  they  so  remain, 
than  would  be  an  equal  weight  of  pebble  stones.  How  far 
the  circulation  can  claim  to  be  treated  as  a  constant  quan- 
tity, we  propose  now  to  inquire.  In  doing  so,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  bear  in  mind  that  trade  is  more  active  at  certain 
seasons  of  the  year  than  at  others ;  and  that,  as  more  ex- 
changes are  to  be  performed,  more  notes,  or  machinery  of 
exchange,  are  required  in  the  active  than  in  the  dull  sea- 
son ;  and  that,  therefore,  if  we  would  compare  one  year  with 
another,  we  should  take,  in  all  cases,  the  same  months  of  the 

is  rife,  and  men  are  anxious  to  make  contracts  for  the  future  delivery  of  money, 
she  facilitates  their  operations  by  taking  their  notes  freely,  and  becoming  re- 
sponsible for  the  delivery  of  the  money  on  demand :  by  which  means  her  debts, 
called  deposits,  are  largely  increased.  If  she  has  the  money,  all  is  well ;  but 
if  she  has  not,  she  thus  swells  the  imaginary  amount  of  the  currency,  and 
prices  rise.  When  the  time  arrives  for  payment,  it  commonly  proves  that 
both  parties  have  been  trading  on  their  credit.  The  bank  must  be  paid,  or 
she  cannot  pay,  and  must  become  bankrupt.  She  seduced  the  poor  debtor  to 
over-trade,  by  assuming  to  do  that  which  she  could  not  have  done  if  called 
upon .  and  she  now  ruins  him  for  having  yielded  to  her  solicitations.  She 
escapes  by  lucky  accident,  and  speedily  re-exhibits  what  is  called  "an  in- 
creased liberality"  in  her  accommodations;  i.  e.,  she  again  runs  largely  in 
debt  for  the  purchase  of  securities. 


MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF   VALUE.  183 

year.     Following  this  rule,  we  now  give  the  circulation  of 
April  and  October,  for  the  years  from  1832  to  1840  :— 

April.  October. 

1832  -    -    -   £18,449,000    -    -    £18,200,000 

1833  -    -    -   17,912,000  -    -    -   19,823,000 

1834  -    -    -    19,097,000  19,107,000 

1835  -    -    -  18,507,000  -    -    -   18,216,000 

1836  -    -    -    17,985,000    -    -     18,136,000 

1837  -    -    -  18,365,000  -    -    -   18,876,000 

1838  -    -    -    18,872,000  19,636,000 

1839  -    -    -  18,326,000  -    -    -   17,906,000 

1840  -    -    -    16,818,000     -    -     17,221,000 

The  year  1840  was  a  year  of  utter  prostration.  In  that 
and  the  following  year,  trade  was  at  an  end,  so  far  as  the 
ruin  of  the  customers  of  England:  and  particularly  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States:  by  the  extraordinary  movements 
of  the  bank  could  accomplish  that  object.  Nevertheless, 
under  these  untoward  circumstances,  the  circulation  re- 
mained above  £16, 000,000  ;  and  we  shall  now  find  it  gra- 
dually attaining  a  point  higher  than  it  had  been  at  for 
many  years  : — 

April.  October. 

1841  -    -    -   £16,533,700    -    -    £17,592,000 

1842  -    -    -  16,952,000  -    -    -   20,004,000 

1843  -    -    -    20,239,000     -    -     19,561,000 

1844  -    -    -  21,246,000  - 

NEW  LAW. 

April.  October. 

1844 £21,152,000 

1845  -         -  £20,099,000     -         -  -       21,260,000 

1846  -         .         -  19,865,000         -         -  21.550,000 

1847  -         -         -      19,854,000     - 

From  this  we  see  that  in  the  first  period  embracing  the 
nine  years  from  1832  to  1840,  both  inclusive:  and  including 
the  crisis  of  1836-7:  the  variation  in  the  month  of  April,  above 
and  .below  the  medium  point  of  .£18,500,000,  is  under  three 
per  cent. ;  while  that  of  October,  above  and  below  the  point 
of  £18,900,000,  is  but  little  over  four  per  cent,  until  we 
reach  the  close  of  1839,  and  commencement  of  1840;  when 
the  bank  had  been  compelled  to  trample  in  the  dust  an 


.184  MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF  VALUE. 

that  were  in  any  way  dependent  upon  it,  thereby  almost  an- 
nihilating the  trade  of  the  country,  and  that  of  all  countries 
intimately  connected  with  it. 

In  the  second  period,  it  attains  a  higher  point  than  in  the 
first.  Private  and  joint-stock  banks  have  been  ruined  by 
the  extraordinary  revulsion  of  1839,  and  confidence  in  their 
notes  has  been  impaired:  and  the  bank  now  profits  by  the 
ruin  which  it  has  caused. 

From  1844  to  the  present  time,  the  variations  are  under 
two  per  cent.  There  is,  however,  a  material  difference  be- 
tween the  average  amount  of  the  first  and  third  periods,  and 
a  permanent  increase  appears  to  have  taken  place.  In  the 
time  that  has  elapsed,  there  has  been  a  great  increase  of 
population,  wealth,  and  trade,  and  an  increase  of  the  ma- 
chinery of  trade  might  have  been  calculated  upon ;  yet  no 
real  increase  in  the  circulation  has  taken  place,  and  the 
change  that  is  above  shown  is  only  apparent,  and  offers  a 
new  proof  of  the  tendency  to  constancy:  despite  all  legisla- 
tive interferences:  to  which  we  desire  to  call  the  attention 
of  our  readers.  Previously  to  1844,  there  were  no  limits  to 
the  circulation  of  the  private,  joint  stock,  Irish  and  Scotch 
banks,  which  averaged,  between  1833  and  1839,  about 
.£20,000,000.  By  the  new  law,  they  were  limited  to  about 
.£17,800,000,  which  is  almost  the  precise  amount  at  the 
date  of  the  latest  returns.  The  vacuum  thus  made  had  to 
be  filled  by  notes  of  the  Bank  of  England,  which  have, 
therefore,  risen  from  .£18,000,000  to  .£20,000,000.  The 
average  of  the  total  circulation  from  1833  to  1839  was 
,£37,838,000 ;  in  January  last,  it  had  reached  .£39,400,000 ; 
in  April,  it  was  .£37,819,000. 

Small  even  as  are  these  variations,  they  are  still  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  only  apparent.  It  is  well  known  that  when 
money  is  very  plenty  and  cheap,  bankers  and  banks  retain 
on  hand  a  larger  amount  of  each  others'  notes  than  when  it 
is  scarce  and  high ;  and  a  note  in  their  vaults  is  just  as 
much  out  of  circulation  as  if  it  remained  in  those  of  the  issu- 


MAN   AND    HIS    STANDARD   OF   VALUE.  185 

ing  bank  itself.  In  the  above  table  it  is  shown  that  the 
highest  April  was  that  of  1835,  when  the  bullion  in  the  bank 
was  £10,673,000,  the  securities  below  .£26,000,000,  and 
the  market  value  of  money  but  three  per  cent.  The  highest 
October  was  that  of  1833,  when  the  bullion  was  nearly 
£11,000,000,  the  securities  .£24,000,000,  and  the  rate  of 
interest  also  but  three  per  cent.  It  was  a  period  of  reco- 
very from  recent  excitement  that  had  been  followed  by  de- 
pression and  loss.  The  next  highest  October  was  that  of 
1838,  when  trade  was  paralyzed:  unemployed  capital  abun- 
dant: the  stock  of  bullion  near  £10,000,000 :  and  the  rate  of 
interest  three  per  cent.  In  1842-3-4,  the  apparent  circula- 
tion was  greater  than  in  any  of  the  years  of  the  first  period, 
yet  the  bank  wras  unable  to  extend  its  business,  which  was 
scarcely  equal  to  the  amount  of  its  circulation  and  surplus. 
In  all  these  cases  we  find  precisely  the  circumstances  calcu- 
lated to  produce  an  accumulation  of  Bank  of  England  notes 
in  the  vaults  and  chests  of  private  and  joint-stock  bankers : 
while  the  lowest  April  and  October,  until  we  reach  the  total 
prostration  of  1839-40,  were  those  of  1836,  when  the  loans 
of  the  bank  had  reached  the  highest  point,  and  when,  ac- 
cording to  the  theory  of  the  bank  restriction  act,  the  circula- 
tion should  have  been  highest. 

Under  the  new  law,  the  highest  April  was  that  of  1845, 
when  the  bullion  had  reached  the  enormous  sum  of 
£16,000,000 ;  and  the  highest  October,  that  of  1846,  when 
it  had  just  re-attained  that  amount.  In  view  of  these  facts, 
we  doubt  if  the  variation  above  or  below  the  medium  point, 
in  the  real  circulation,  from  1833  to  1839,  ever  equalled 
one  and  a  half  per  cent. ;  a  proportion  so  small,  that  for 
almost  all  purposes  it  may  be  regarded  as  being  a  constant 
quantity.* 


*  «  We  have  shown,  by  unanswerable  arguments,  that  under  no  circum- 
stances will  more  circulation  be  retained  in  the  hands  of  the  public  than  is 
just  sufficient  to  perform  the  functions  of  a  medium  of  exchange  for  the  inter- 
nal transactions  of  the  country.  No  man  retains  more  money  in  his  possession 

16* 


186        MAN  AND  HIS  STANDARD  OF  VALUE. 

That  such  has  been  the  case,  has  not  been  due  to  any 
efforts  of  the  bank  for  that  purpose.  On  the  contrary,  none 
have  been  spared  that  could  have  tended  to  increase  and 
decrease  the  amount.  Between  1833  and  1839,  it  increased 
its  securities  from  .£22,000,000  to  £31, 000,000,  and  thus 
forced  up  the  amount  of  unemployed  capital  at  the  credit 
of  its  customers,  from  £8,000,000  to  £18,000,000,  for  all 
of  which  they  were  entitled  to  demand  notes,  if  they  would  ; 
and  it  had  diminished  its  investments  from  .£31,000,000  to 
£21,000,000,  thereby  enabling  the  owners  of  unemployed 
capital  to  invest  at  low  prices,  the  effect  of  which  was  shown 
in  the  reduction  of  deposits  from  £18,000,000  to  £7,000,000 ; 
yet  the  circulation  neither  increased  nor  decreased  materially. 
Under  the  new7  law,  we  find  it  purchasing  securities  and 
contracting  debts,  until  the  former  rise  from  .£22,000,000  to 
.£36,000,000,  and  the  latter  from  .£12,000,000  attain  to 
£24,000,000 :  and  again  diminishing,  the  first  to £25,000,000, 
and  the  second  to  £16,000,000  :  and  all  this  with  no  change 
worth  notice  in  the  circulation.  The  transactions  of  the 
whole  period  have  shown  that  scarcely  any  power  can  be 
exercised  over  it,  for  its  increase  or  decrease  ;  and  yet  this 
almost  invariable  quantity  is  made  the  measure  of  the  bullion 
to  be  retained  in  the  vaults  of  the  bank :  the  result  of  all  which 
is,  that  it  has  a  circulation  of  £20,000,000  that  it  cannot 
compel  the  people  to  return  upon  it  for  redemption,  and  that 
it  is,  nevertheless,  obliged  to  keep  £6,000,000  out  of  these 
.£20,000,000,  in  bullion  ;  while  the  whole  commercial  com- 
munity is  thrown  into  an  agony  of  despair  by  the  total 
refusal  of  accommodation,  because  the  amount  of  bullion 
is  reduced  to  .£9,000,000.  Had  the  law  provided  that 
.£6,000,000  should  be  packed  up  and  stowed  away,  never 


than  he  requires  for  immediate  use,  but  either  places  it  in  a  bank,  or  employs 
it  in  the  purchase  of  commodities  on  which  he  expects  to  obtain  a  profit,  or 
securities  which  will  yield  an  interest  As  a  rule,  therefore,  the  circulation  is 
at  all  times  confined  to  the  lowest  sum  which  is  sufficient  to  conduct  the  trans- 
actions of  the  country." — Economist. 


MAN   AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF   VALUE.  187 

again  to  be  opened  or  removed  for  any  purpose  whatsoever, 
it  would  have  been  quite  as  useful  for  the  maintenance  of 
any  thing  like  equality  in  the  value  of  money ;  and  far  more 
useful  in  that  it  would  not  have  lulled  the  people  into  a  be- 
lief that  safeguards  had  been  provided,  when  safety  there 
could  be  none.  It  may  be  said,  however,  that  panics  might 
arise  when  people  would  bring  the  notes  for  redemption. 
Panics  follow  violent  changes  of  action,  like  those  of  1825, 
1836,  and  1839,  by  which  great  losses  are  produced,  threat- 
ening the  existence  of  the  bank  ;  and  nothing  could  be  bet- 
ter calculated  to  produce  them  than  the  institution  of  a  sys- 
tem that  professed  to  afford  security  when  it  gave  none. 
The  directors  thought  they  were  safe  if  they  obeyed  the 
law,  and  the  people  relied  on  the  law  for  security.  It  has 
been  obeyed :  yet  security  to  bank  or  individuals  has  not 
been  attained,  nor  can  it  ever  be  by  aid  of  that  law. 

The  power  and  the  discretion  of  the  people :  their  capa- 
city for  self-government :  in  regard  to  the  regulation  of  the 
circulation,  have  been  fully  manifested.  They  want  no  aid 
from  the  law,  which  is  just  as  useful  as  if  its  object  had  been 
to  fix  the  number  of  shoes,  hats,  or  coats,  that  should  be  kept 
by  the  manufacturers  of  those  commodities ;  with  a  view  to 
provide  against  any  man-  claiming  to  purchase  a  hat,  and 
not  being  able  to  find  one.  Should  such  an  one  ever  be 
passed,  many  men  will  be  found  going  without  hats,  shoes,  or 
coats ;  for  the  supply  of  those  articles,  whenever  it  shall 
come  to  be  regulated,  will  be  as  unsteady,  and  their  prices 
will  become  as  variable,  as  we  now  see  to  be  the  case  with 
money.  The  people  do  require,  however,  protection  against 
the  exercise,  by  the  bank,  of  the  vast  power  confided  to  it, 
by  means  of  which  it  is  enabled  to  purchase  securities,  pass- 
ing the  amount  to  the  credit  of  their  owners,  arid  calling 
them  "  deposits :"  by  which  operation  prices  are  forced  up, 
the  rate  of  interest  is  diminished,  capital  is  made  to  appear 
superabundant,  and  a  speculative  disposition  is  produced. 
That  institution  has  a  monopoly  of  the  power  of  trading  as 


188  MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE. 

a  banking  corporation.  Had  it  not,  the  persons,  whose  capi- 
tal is  there  locked  up,  unproductive  to  themselves,  while  the 
bank  is  increasing  the  amount  of  its  securities  with  a  view 
to  the  making  of  large  dividends  ;  might  demand  bullion  for 
their  deposits,  and  open  banks  themselves,  lending  out  their 
own  money  for  their  own  profit,  and  thus  curbing  the  bank : 
but  this  they  could  not  do,  prior  to  1844,  because  every  as- 
sociation for  banking  purposes  was  subjected  to  heavy  penal- 
ties, in  the  form  of  liabilities,  which  forbade  that  any  pru- 
dent man  should  take  part  in  their  formation  ;  and  since  the 
new  law,  the  formation  of  them,  even  coupled  with  the  prin- 
ciple of  unlimited  liability,  requires  permission  from  the  go- 
vernment :  and  as  if  utterly  to  prevent  people  of  small  means 
from  taking  part  in  them,  the  price  of  a  share  is  fixed  at  a  hun- 
dred pounds,  of  which  one-half  must  be  paid  in.  Thus  is  re- 
striction loaded  on  restriction,  to  produce  steadiness  !  The 
effect  is  similar  to  that  which  would  be  obtained  by  adding  a 
ton  of  iron  to  the  top  hamper  of  an  already  overloaded  coach. 
For  the  benefit  of  those  who  have  not  traced  the  operation 
of  an  expansion,  we  propose  to  show  the  manner  in  which 
it  acts.  Let  us  suppose,  first,  a  state  of  affairs,  in  which 
every  thing  is  at  par.  Money  is  easily  obtained  for  good 
notes,  at  a  fair  rate  of  discount,  and  for  mortgages,  at  the 
usual  rate  of  interest ;  while  all  those  who  have  disposable 
capital,  can  readily  obtain  good  securities  that  will  yield  them 
the  common  rate  of  profit ;  the  daily  supply  of  money  and 
securities  being  about  equal  the  one  to  the  other.  In  this 
happy  state  of  affairs,  the  directors  of  the  bank,  feeling 
themselves  very  easy,  fancy  that  it  would  be  profitable  to 
take,  another  million,  and  forthwith  their  broker  is  desired  to 
purchase  that  amount  of  exchequer  bills,  or  other  securities. 
At  once  the  equilibrium  is  disturbed.  A  demand  for  securi- 
ties exists,  exceeding  the  ordinary  amount  of  supply.  Prices 
rise,  and  some  unhappy  holder  is  tempted  to  sell,  in  the  hope 
that  there  will  be  less  demand  to-morrow,  and  that  then  prices 
will  fall,  and  he  may  buy  in  again  with  a  fair  profit.  At 


MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE.  189 

the  close  of  the  day,  his  bills  have  become  the  property  of 
the  bank,  and  he  :  or  all  those  who  have  united  to  furnish  the 
the  desired  million :  is  creditor  to  the  bank,  either  directly 
or  through  his  banker,  for  the  whole  amount.  His  capital  is 
now  uninvested,  and  he  appears  in  the  market  on  the  next  day 
as  a  purchaser.  Unfortunately  for  him,  however,  the  bank, 
too,  makes  its  appearance,  for  the  second  time,  in  the  same 
capacity.  The  first  experiment  has  been  attended  with  vastly 
fortunate  results.  Its  "  deposits"  have  grown  with  the  in- 
crease of  its  investments.  Such  success  emboldens  it  to  re- 
peat the  operation,  and  another  million  is  purchased,  with 
similar  results.  It  obtains  the  bills,  and  the  owners  obtain 
credits  on  the  books  of  the  bank,  which  thus  runs  in  debt,  and 
the  more  debt  it  contracts,  the  more  means  it  appears  to  sup- 
pose itself  to  have  at  command.  With  the  second  million, 
prices  have  risen ;  and  with  the  third,  they  rise  still  higher  ; 
and  so  on  with  each  successive  million.  Capital  appears 
superabundant,  because  the  former  owner  of  these  mil- 
lions of  securities  is  seeking  for  profitable  investments ; 
when  the  real  superabundance  consists  only  in  debts  which 
the  bank  has  incurred.  Prices  advance  from  day  to  day, 
and  a  speculative  disposition  is  engendered  by  the  growth  of 
fortune  among  the  holders  of  stocks,  and  next  it  becomes 
necessary  to  manufacture  new  stocks  for  the  purpose  of  em- 
ploying this  vast  surplus  capital.  New  railroads  are  there- 
fore projected  and  subscribed  for :  vast  contracts  are  made  : 
boundless  prosperity  is  in  view.  Men  who  should  be  raising 
corn,  are  breaking  up  the  old  roads  to  replace  them  with 
new,  or  building  palaces  for  the  lucky  speculators.  Im- 
mense orders  for  iron,  and  bricks,  and  timber,  are  given. 
Prices  advance.  England  becomes  a  good  place  to  sell  in, 
and  a  bad  one  to  buy  in.  Imports  increase,  and  exports  de- 
crease. Bullion  goes  abroad.  The  bank  has  to  sell  securi- 
ties. Prices  fall.  Business  is  paralyzed.  The  roads  are  half 
made,  and  cannot  be  completed.  The  people  are  ruined, 
and  the  bank  escapes  with  difficulty  from  the  ruin  she 


190        MAX  AND  HIS  STANDARD  OF  VALUE. 

herself  has  made,  congratulates  herself  on  the  dexterity  she 
has  shown,  and  prepares  to  repeat  the  operation  at  the  first 
opportunity.  Such  is  the  history  of  1825,  1836,  and  1839, 
at  all  of  which  periods,  the  bank  manufactured  "  deposits" 
by  monopolizing  securities,  and  was  then  itself  misled  into 
the  belief  that  the  increase  of  its  own  debts  indicated  an 
actual  surplus  of  capital.  Whenever  that  institution  pur- 
chases a  security  :  which  is  always  the  representative  of  some 
already  existing  investment :  the  person  from  whom  it  is  pur- 
chased will  unquestionably  use  the  means  that  are  placed  at 
his  command  for  the  creation  of  some  new  species  of  in- 
vestment, as  no  man  willingly  permits  his  capital  to  lie 
idle.  If  it  make  this  purchase  with  the  money  of  others, 
the  inevitable  effect  must  be  to  raise  prices,  and  stimulate 
the  late  owner  to  increased  activity  to  provide  the  new  in- 
vestment ;  and  whenever  it  shall  be  provided,  he  will,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  demand  payment  in  gold,  and  then  the 
security  must  be  parted  with  to  provide  means  for  the  pay- 
ment ;  at  which  time  prices  will  as  inevitably  fall,  because 
the  creditor  of  the  bank  has  been  labouring  to  invest  capital 
which  had  no  real  existence  in  any  other  form  than  that  of  a 
railroad,  or  canal,  or  some  other  public  work,  or  debt,  al- 
ready created,  and  which  could  not  be  used  for  the  forma- 
tion of  other  roads  or  canals : — and  thus,  while  the  one 
party  has  been  trying  to  invest  his  funds,  the  other  has  been 
holding  the  evidence  of  their  being  already  invested,  and 
drawing  interest  for  their  use.  A  double  action  has  thus 
been  produced,  causing  inflation  and  speculation  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  panic  and  ruin. 

The  course  of  the  bank,  in  the  late  railroad  speculation, 
appears  to  have  been  precisely  the  same  as  was,  in  the 
great  land  speculation  of  1836,  that  of  the  banks  of  the  west, 
established  among  a  scattered  people  who  still  cultivated  poor 
lands :  and  who  borrowed  money  to  make  the  banks.  A 
man  purchased  a  section  of  land,  and  paid  the  amount  to 
ihe  treasurer.  The  treasurer  deposited  the  money  in  the 


MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF   VALUE.  191 

bank.  The  bank  lent  the  man  his  money,  on  his  note.  He 
paid  it  again  to  the  treasurer,  jwho  again  deposited  it  in  the 
bank,  which  again  lent  it  to  the  original  owner,  who  again 
bought  land,  and  again  paid  the  treasurer,  repeating  the 
operation  until,  with  a  single  thousand  dollars,  he  became 
the  owner  of  tens  of  thousands  of  acres.  At  the  end  of  the 
operation,  the  government  had  parted  with  vast  bodies  of 
land,  and  had,  in  exchange,  a  vast  amount  of  bank  credits : 
and  the  bank  held  the  notes  of  the  speculator. 

For  a  series  of  years,  every  species  of  difficulty  had  been 
thrown  in  the  way  of  those  who  desired  to  make  roads,  the 
effect  of  which  had  been  to  cause  an  unnatural  accumulation 
of  uninvested  capital :  to  lower  the  price  of  money :  and  to 
produce  enormous  speculation  in  railroads  to  be  made.  All 
England  was  engaged  in  it,  from  the  highest  peer  to  the 
smallest  shopkeeper ;  for  the  desire  of  gain  by  speculation  is 
always  in  the  direct  ratio  of  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  a  liv- 
ing by  honest  industry.  It  is  universal  in  France  :  and  far 
greater  and  more  universal  in  England  than  in  the  United 
States.*  The  consequence  was,  that  early  in  the  last  year  a 
large  amount  of  money  was  required  to  be  paid  for  deposits 
on  account  of  roads  for  which  charters  were  to  be  obtained. 
The  difficulty  was  supposed  to  consist  not  in  the  matter  of 
capital,  but  in  the  manner  of  payment.  All  the  bullion  in 
the  bank  would  not  accomplish  it.  The  very  fact  of  the 
vast  sum  required  in  that  early  stage  of  the  business  should 
have  baen  sufficient  to  induce  great  doubt  of  the  propriety 
of  the  operation,  and  had  the  bank  not  interfered,  very  many 
doubtful  speculations  would  have  fallen  to  the  ground. 
Ever  ready,  however,  to  foster  a  speculative  tendency,  she 


*  In  France,  speculation  in  stocks  by  women  in  high  life  is  a  matter  of 
daily  occurrence.  In  England,  it  is  less  frequent,  but  it  does  occur :  as  the 
papers  of  the  day  furnish  ample  evidence.  In  both  countries,  ladies  make 
Wets  on  th?  results  of  horse-races  :  small  ones,  it  is  true,  but  small  as  they 
are,  they  are  evidence  of  the  speculative  tendency.  In  the  United  »tai«?s, 
such  things  arj  unknown. 


192        MAN  AND  HIS  STANDARD  OF  VALUE. 

was  not  found  wanting  on  this  occasion.  She  took  the 
money,  and  lent  it  out  as  fast.as  paid  in  ;  and  thus  enabled 
the  same  thousand  pounds  to  pay  the  deposits  on  thousands 
of  shares,  precisely  as  did  the  western  banks  with  the  funds 
of  the  land  speculator.  In  the  latter  case,  there  was  one 
advantage,  which  the  railroad  speculation  did  not  possess. 
No  further  payments  were  there  to  be  required ;  whereas, 
here,  the  loan  was  only  to  facilitate  the  first  payment,  which 
was  to  be  followed  by  an  almost  endless  series  of  instalments. 
In  February,  1846,  the  bank  had  become  debtor  to  its  depo- 
sitors— the  principal  of  whom  was  the  accountant  who  re- 
ceived those  deposits,  or,  in  other  words,  a  state  treasurer 
—.£18,000,000,  and  it  held  .£36,000,000  of  securities, 
£23,000,000  of  which  were  private  ;  and  thus  it  had  afforded 
to  the  railroad  speculators  of  England  precisely  the  same  fad 
lity  that  the  western  banks  granted  to  the  land  speculators  of 
their  respective  vicinities.  Had  no  such  interference  taken 
place,  and  had  subscribers  to  roads  been  compelled,  as  they 
should  have  been,  to  find  money  instead  of  giving  notes  ; 
thus  affording  evidence  of  the  existence  of  the  capital  re- 
quired ;  many  ruinous  schemes  would  have  been  crushed  in 
the  outset :  fewer  persons  would  have  been  employed  in 
building  roads,  and  more  would  have  been  engaged  in  culti- 
vation :  prices  would  not  have  been  so  high :  more  manu- 
factures would  have  been  exported  :  and  the  corn  required 
to  make  amends  for  deficient  crops  would  have  been  less  in 
quantity,  and  paid  for  with  manufactures,  or  with  bullion, 
that  might  have  been  spared  without  causing  the  slightest 
disturbance  in  the  monetary  world  of  Britain :  but  the  pro 
prietors  of  the  bank  would  have  received  no  bonus,  in  addi 
tion  to  their  usual  half-yearly  dividend,  the  object  sought  for 
in  fostering  speculation.* 


*  So  Ion?  as  the  bank  lent  out  the  means  which  properly  belonged  to  it, 
us  was  me  case  throughout  a  large  portion  of  1845,  manufactures  were  ex- 
l>orted  with  profit ;  and  they  continued  to  be  so  until  the  expansion  had  fu 


MAN   AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF   VALUE.  193 

.    Among  the  assets  of  the  bank  are  three  quantities  that  may 
be  regarded  as  constants.     These  are — 

1.  The  rest,  or  surplus  capital          -  -  £4,000,000 

2.  The  circulation         .....  20,000,000 

3.  The  public  deposits,  to  the  extent  of  -  »         2,500,000 

Total    -  -          £26,500,000 

With  all  the  excitement  of  the  last  two  years,  the  ave- 
rage amount  of  securities  held  by  the  bank,  is  but  about 
.£30,000,000.  That  excitement  has  been  produced  by  using 
the  capital  of  others,  placed  in  her  hands,  while  those  others 
were  trying  to  use  it  themselves.  Had  the  law  limited  her 
to  the  use  of  the  above  items,  which  may  be  regarded  as 
almost  the  same  as  her  own  capital,  and  by  the  use  of  which 
she  interferes  with  nobody :  and  had  the  amount  of  her 
securities  never  exceeded  the  sum  of  those  quantities :  no 
excitement  could  ever  have  been  produced ;  no  panic  could 
ever  have  followed  ;  vast  losses  would  have  been  avoided  ; 
bank  stock  would  not  have  fallen,  in  two  months,  from  205 
to  189  ;  and  England  would  now  be  in  the  enjoyment  of  high 
prosperity,  notwithstanding  the  failure  of  her  crops. 

During  the  period  from  1832  to  1839,  the  amount  of  those 
items  varied  but  little  from  .£23,000,000.  We  will  now 
show  the  state  of  the  securities  of  the  bank,  taking  that  sum 
as  a  par,  and  marking  as  plus  +,  or  minus  — ,  the  varia- 
tions that  occurred,  with  their  effects.  In  November,  1831, 
securities  had  been  greatly  in  excess,  and  there  was  consider- 
able speculation.  In  January,  the  bank  was  reducing  her 


time  to  produce  the  effect  of  making  England  a  good  place  to  sell  in,  and  a 
bad  one  to  buy  in.  We  take  the  following  from  the  Bankers'  Circular  of 
March  19,  before  the  crisis  had  arrived.  After  stating  that,  for  about  two 
years  after  the  passage  of  the  Charter  Act,  manufacturers  had  been  able  to 
sell  to  advantage,  while  the  prices  of  imports  were  not  remunerative,  the 
writer  goes  on  to  say,  that  "  no  manufactures  exported,  and  none  sold  at  home, 
have  left  a  fair  profit  to  the  manufacturer  since  July  last ;  on  the  other  hand, 
almost  all  the  imported  commodities,  above  enumerated,  (cotton,  silk,  hemp, 
tobacco  and  indigo,  coffee  and  sugar,)  except  silk,  have  risen  in  value,  and 
yielded  a  fair  profit  to  the  importer." 

2B  17 


194 


MAN  AND  HIS  STANDARD  OF  VALUE. 


loans,  and  money  was 

4  per  cent.* 

1832— April -f  £1,300,000. 

July  -f-        600,000. 
Oct.   -f      1,000,000. 


1833— Jan.  +  200,000. 

April  +  1,300,000. 

July  Par. 

Oct.  -f  1,200,000. 

1833— Dec.  -f  500,000. 

1834— April  +  2,600,000. 

July  .4.  4,600,000. 


scarce,  and  worth  on  first-rate  bills 


Bullion  going  abroad.  Excitement  diminish- 
ing. Interest  3£  per  cent.j- 

Reduction.  Great  losses  in  trade.  Little 
demand  for  money.  Interest  3  per  cent. 

Trade  paralyzed.  No  demand  for  money. 
Interest  2|  per  cent.  Bank  again  ex- 
tending itself,  and  forcing  up  the  amount 
of  unemployed  capital  left  with  it  on  de- 
posit. 

No  demand  for  money.  Bullion  and  de- 
posits increasing.  Continued  paralysis. 
Interest  2|  per  cent. 

Bank  monopolizing  securities,  and  thus  in- 
creasing the  deposits.  No  demand  for 
money.  Interest  2^-  per  cent. 

Deposits  fall  with  the  diminution  of  securities 
held  hy  the  bank,  and  capitalists  now  ob- 
tain 2tJ  per  cent. 

Business  reviving.  Increased  demand  for 
money.  Rate  3  per  cent.  Bank  has 
bought  £1,200,000  of  additional  securities, 
and  the  unemployed  capital  has  conse- 
quently advanced  £1,000,000. 

Bank  has  diminished  securities,  and  deposits 
have  fallen  therewith.  Interest  is  now 
3^  per  cent. ;  showing  an  increased  demand 
for  money,  and  increased  facility  for  invest- 
ment, with  the  diminution  of  bank  securi- 
ties. 

Great  expansion,  producing  increase  of  de- 
posits. Interest  has  consequently  fallen  to 
3  per  cent.  Tendency  to  purchase  foreign 
securities,  as  those  of  England  are  being 
monopolized  by  the  bank. 

Further  expansion.  Increase  of  deposits. 
Foreign  stocks  remitted  to  England  for 
the  absorption  of  the  large  apparent  sur- 
plus capital.  Bullion  going  abroad.  In- 
terest 3£  per  cent. 


*  The  perpetual  jerks  to  which  this  great  concern  has  always  been  liable, 
are  well  shown  in  the  few  months  prior  to  April,  1832 — In  August,  1831,  the 
securities  were  £25,900,000 ;  in  October  they  had  fallen  to  £20,750,000 ;  in 
November  they  had  risen  to  £24,450,000.  In  February,  1832,  they  were 
£25,550,000  ;  in  April  £21,900,000.  With  such  a  fly-wheel,  the  only  won- 
der is  that  any  of  the  little  wheels  escape  destruction. 

•f-  The  rates  of  interest  here  given,  have  reference  to  first  class  paper  in 
London. 


MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF   VALUE. 


195 


1834— Oct.    4  £5,600,000. 

Dec.  4-  3,200,000. 

1835— April -f  3,500,000. 

July  _|_  2,700,000. 

Oct.  -|-  5,000,000. 

Dec.  4  8,700,000. 

1836— April  4  5,400,000. 

July  -f  4,150,000. 

Oct.  -f  6,300,000. 

Dec.  -f  6,600,000. 

1837— April  +  6,300,000. 

July  +  4,000,000. 


Further  expansion.  Prices  rise.  More 
stocks  imported,*  and  more  bullion  going 
abroad.  High  profits  of  speculators  have 
raised  the  rate  of  interest  to  3|  per  cent. 

Reduction.  Deposits  diminishing,  and  price 
of  money  maintained.  Bullion  going 
abroad. 

Increase.  Deposits  rising,  and  bullion  still 
in  demand.  Interest  still  3$  per  cent. 

Reduction.  Deposits  falling  therewith.  Bul- 
lion still  in  demand.  Money  less  abund- 
ant for  speculation,  and  interest  4  per 
cent. 

Great  increase  of  securities  and  of  deposits. 
American  stocks  coming  to  absorb  the 
great  surplus  capital.  Great  speculation. 
Interest  3|  per  cent. 

Great  increase  of  deposits,  and  heavv  import 
of  stocks.  Large  contracts  for  present  and 
future  payments  thereon.  Great  specula- 
tion, and  interest  3$  per  cent. 

Reduction  of  securities  and  of  deposits.  In- 
terest still  3|  per  cent. 

Reduction  of  securities  and  of  deposits. 
Money  much  wanted  for  payments  on 
contracts  for  stocks,  and  interest  rises  to 
4  per  cent. 

Increased  securities.  Large  payments  for 
foreign  stocks.^  Export  of  bullion.  Great 
distress.  Interest  5  per  cent.  Crushing  of 
American  merchants. 

Distress  greatly  aggravated.  Bank  forced  to 
expand  in  the  face  of  diminishing  bullion. 
Interest  5^  per  cent. 

Bank,  having  lost  all  command  of  its  own  ac- 
tions, is  still  obliged  to  keep  itself  expanded. 
Continued  export  of  bullion.  Distress 
continues.  Interest  5^  per  cent. 

Bank  enabled  at  length  to  contract  its  busi- 
ness. Small  return  of  bullion.  Distress 
somewhat  diminished.  Interest  4£  per 
cent  No  confidence. 


*  "  From  November,  1834,  to  March,  1835,  there  was  an  enormous  specu- 
lation in  the  prices  of  South  American  stocks,  which  caused  an  advance  to  a 
great  extent,  and  brought  a  large  import  of  foreign  stock  from  all  parts  of  the 
continent." — Mr.  J.  H.  Palmer,  Peport  on  Banks  of  Issue,  p.  106. 

f  "  The  loss  of  bullion  by  the  bank,  between  1st  of  April  and  1st  of  Septem- 
ber, 1836,  I  believe  to  have  been  occasioned  by  the  excess  in  the  American 
securities." — Ibid.  p.  115. 


196 


MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE. 


1837— Oct.  -f  £3,500,000. 

Dec.  -f  600,000. 

1838— April  —  200,000. 

July  _  650,000. 

Oct.  —  200,000. 

1830— Dec.  —  2,000,000. 

1839— April  Par. 

July  -f  900,000. 

Oct.  -f  2,860,000. 

Dec.  —  500,000. 


1840— April -f-  100,000. 

July  —  600,000. 

Oct.  —  '  200,000. 

Dec.  —  600,000. 


Continued  contraction.  Trade  very  dull. 
Deposits  and  buHion  increasing.  No  con- 
fidence. Interest  3^  per  cent. 
Great  reduction.  Trade  very  dull.  Large  im- 
ports of  bullion.  Interest  still  3£  per  cent., 
notwithstanding  the  heavy  amount  of  depo- 
sits, because  of  continued  want  of  confidence. 

Decrease  of  securities,  with  constant  increase 
of  unemployed  capital,  and  of  deposits  of  bul- 
lion. Trade  paralyzed.  Interest  2f  per  cent. 

Diminution  of  securities.  Bank  exports  bul- 
lion, having  no  demand  for  money  at  home. 
Trade  very  dull.  Interest  3  per  cent. 

Small  increase  of  securities.  Trade  slowly 
reviving.  Import  of  bullion  at  an  -end. 
Interest  3  per  cent. 

Great  diminution  of  securities  and  of  deposits. 
Amount  of  unemployed  capital  still  large, 
and  American  stocks  coming  for  sale.  In- 
terest, however,  rises  to  3£  per  cent. 

Increase  of  securities,  paid  for  with  bullion, 
which  falls  to  £7,000,000.  Import  of  Ameri- 
can stocks,  and  interest  rises  to  3|  per  cent. 

Increase  of  securities.  Heavy  payments  for 
foreign  stocks.  Great  diminution  of  de- 
posits. Heavy  drain  of  bullion.  Severe 
distress.  Interest  5^  per  cent. 

Large  increase  of  securities  in  the  face  of 
heavy  drains  of  bullion.  Bank  unmanage- 
able. On  the  verge  of  ruin.  Interest  6^ 
per  cent.  Soon  after,  forced  to  apply  to 
the  bank  of  France  for  aid. 

Bank  escapes  bankruptcy.  People  ruined. 
Business  at  an  end.  Extreme  distress. 
Interest  6^  per  cent. 

During  the  whole  of  this  year,  trade  continues 
prostrate.  Money  is  scarce  and  high,  in- 
terest being  about  5  per  cent,  on  the  best 
paper,  while  on  second  rate,  it  can  scarcely 
be  obtained  at  any  price :  yet  the  bank  is 
totally  unable  to  afford  relief.  The  ruin 
of  trade  has  diminished  her  circulation  and 
that  of  all  other  banks.  Deposits  are 
smaller,  and  the  bullion  tends  rather  to 
diminish  than  to  increase,  because  she  has 
ruined  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
Canada,  India,  and  others  of  the  best  cus- 
tomers of  England,  who  are  no  longer  able 
to  be  purchasers  of  manufactured  goods. 
Distress  is  universal  abroad,  and  poverty 
and  starvation  equally  so  at  home. 


MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF   VALUE. 


197 


1841— April  —  £700,000. 
July  _  700,000. 
Oct.  +  400,000. 
Dec.  —  200,000. 


Presents  precisely  the  same  features  as  1 840. 
The  bank,  always  able  to  promote  specu- 
lation and  to  produce  ruin,  is  now,  as 
always  before,  utterly  unable  to  afford  aid. 
There  is  no  confidence.  Interest  is  about 
5  per  cent,  for  the  best  paper,  and  enor- 
mously high  for  any  but  the  best.  The 
few  grow  rich  upon  large  interest,  and  the 
many  are  ruined. 


With  1842,  the  circulation  of  the  bank  rises  to 
.£19,500,000,  which,  added  to  "the  rest,"  and  .£2,500,000 
of  public  deposits,  would  give  a  trading  capital  of  nearly 
,£25,000,000,  which  may  be  taken  as  the  par,  but  there  is 
no  demand  for  money.  The  nation  is  paralyzed,  because 
its  customers  have  been  ruined. 


During  this  period,  the  bullion  grows  from 
£9,000,000  to  £16,000,000,  and  interest 
falls  from  3  to  If  per  cent.  The  bank  is 
unable  to  use  its  own  means,  even  at  the 
lowest  rate  of  interest ;  and  she  now  loses 
all  that  she  had  gained  by  over-trading  and 
high  interest,  in  the  previous  years,  and 
more.  Had  her  loans  remained  steadily  at 
par,  she  would  have  exhibited  a  larger 
amount  of  "  rest,"  than  she  was  able  to  do 
after  all  her  exertions;  while  the  nation 
would  have  saved  the  vast  sum  that  was 
forced  abroad  and  lost. 


Throughout  the  whole  of  this  calamitous  period,  no  diffi- 
culty existed  but  that  which  the  bank  itself  had  made.  It 
forced  capital  to  seek  investment  abroad,  by  monopolizing 
securities  at  home ;  whereas,  had  it  confined  its  investments 
to  the  amount  of  its  permanent  means,  retaining,  in  the  form 
of  bullion,  the  capital  of  others  intrusted  to  its  care,  increas- 
ing or  decreasing  in  amount,  as  its  customers  thought  fit  to 
deposit  or  to  recall  it ;  the  whole  business  of  the  institution 
would  have  been  regulated  by  the  community,  it  being  itself 
a  perfectly  automatic  machine.  While  the  amount  of  its  se- 
curities was  determined  by  the  quantity  of  circulation  in  use, 
the  amount  of  its  bullion  would  have  been  determined  by  the 

17* 


1842—  Oct. 
Dec. 
1843—  April 
July 
Oct. 
Dec. 
1844—  April 
July 
Aug. 

_  £2,500,000. 
—     4,500,000 
—     1,400,000 
—     3,500,000 
—     2,800,000 
—     4,000,000 
—     2,800,000 
—     2,500,000 
—     2,000,000 

198  MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE. 

deposits  of  capital  not  in  use  ;  and  they,  like  the  circulation, 
would  have  been  nearly  a  constant  quantity,  fluctuating,  per- 
haps, between  six  and  eight  millions,  instead  of  rising  to 
eighteen,  and  falling  to  six  millions.* 

We  will  now  briefly  show  the  working  of  the  proposed 
system.  Let  us  suppose  that,  on  a  given  day,  the  bank  has 
a  circulation  of  .£20,000,000,  for  which  she  holds  securities  : 
and  deposits  to  the  amount  of  £10,000,000,  for  which  she 
has  bullion :  that,  in  the  course  of  the  following  week,  she 
has  returned  to  her  notes  to  the  amount  of  £200,000,  to  be 
placed  to  the  credit  of  depositors  ;  and  that,  in  the  next, 
.£200,000  are  withdrawn  in  bullion  for  exportation.  The 
following  is  the  state  of  affairs,  at  these  several  periods,  under 
the  existing  system : — 

Circulation.  Securities.  Deposits.  Bullion. 

1st,  ....  £20,000,000  £20,000,000  £10,000,000  £10,000,000 
2d,  ....  19,800,000  20,000,000  10,200,000  10,000,000 
3d,  ....  19,800,000  20,000,000  10,000,000  9,800,000 

*  Previously  to  the  passage  of  the  present  law,  a-  memorial  was  presented  to 
Parliament,  signed  by  many  of  the  principal  bankers  and  merchants  of  Lon- 
don, remonstrating  against  the  restriction  on  the  bank  issues,  on  the  ground 
that  circumstances  might  arise  that  would  render  necessary  some  extra  expan- 
sion, with  a  view  to  the  preservation  of  merchants,  bankers,  and  traders,  from 
ruin  ;  but  the  Minister  resisted  the  application.  He  had  seen  the  directors,  in 
1825,  1836,  and  1839,  increasing  their  loans,  with  ruin  staring  them  in  the 
face ;  arid  he  desired  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  such  a  state  of  things,  by 
making  it  imperative  on  them  to  reduce  as  the  bullion  passed  out  of  their 
hands.  How  little  such  has  been  the  effect  of  the  law,  may  be  seen  from  the 
fact,  that,  in  April,  last,  when  the  bullion  had  fallen  to  £10,000,000,  the 
amount  of  securities  was  greater,  by  £4,000,000,  than  it  had  been  in  Decem- 
ber, when  the  bullion  was  £15,000,000.  In  all  these  cases,  the  bank  found 
itself  unable  to  control  its  own  action.  It  had  set  the  ball  of  speculation  in 
motion,  and  it  did  not  dare  to  stop  it.  A  review  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
institution  cannot  fail  to  prove  to  the  satisfaction  of  every  one  capable  of 
understanding  them,  that  no  case,  appearing  to  require  such  interference  as 
was  desired  by  the  petitioners,  has  occurred  within  the  last  thirty  years,  except 
when  produced  by  the  over-trading  of  the  bank  itself;  and  that  by  taking 
away  the  power  to  produce  speculation,  and  thus  striking  at  the  root  of  the 
evil,  would  be  obviated  all  necessity  for  interference  with  a  view  to  remedy 
its  consequences ;  even  had  experience  shown  that  it  was  in  the  power  of  the 
bank  to  afford  any  remedy,  which  has  not  been  the  case.  It  has  always 
exhibited  herself  as  powerless  to  relieve  the  community  from  the  consequences 
of  disturbance,  as  it  has  been  powerful  for  its  production. 


MAN   AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE.  199 

The  fact  of  the  return  of  any  part  of  the  circulation,  is 
evidence  of  the  existence  of  an  excess  in  that  portion  of  the 
currency,  requiring  correction,  \vhich  correction  is  now  being 
made  by  the  public.  Its  conversion  subsequently  into  gold 
for  exportation,  is  evidence  of  the  existence  of  an  excess  in 
the  currency  generally.  To  re-issue  the  notes  thus  re- 
turned, would  be  to  re-produce  the  excess,  and  with  it  a 
necessity  for  farther  correction.  As  fast  as  issued,  they 
would  be  brought  back,  and  gold  would  be  demanded  for 
them :  the  public  thus  enforcing  the  remedy  just  as  steadily 
as  the  bank  directors  were  producing  the  disease.  If  the 
latter  persisted  for  any  length  of  time,  they  would  find  them- 
selves drained  of  bullion,  in  consequence  of  a  constant  effort 
to  compel  the  public  to  keep  on  hand  a  larger  amount  of 
notes  than  they  wanted  ;  precisely  as  they  have  been  on  so 
many  recent  occasions. 

The  remedy  for  an  excess  of  currency  is  a  reduction  of  the 
amount.  Had  the  directors,  at  the  close  of  the  first  of  the 
two  weeks  above  given,  sold  ,£200,000  of  their  securities, 
they  would  have  absorbed  .£200,000  of  the  unemployed 
capital  of  individuals  placed  with  them  for  safe  keeping, 
and  would  thereby  have  re-established  the  equilibrium  ;  thus 
preventing  any  necessity  for  the  exportation  of  capital  in 
quest  of  employment.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  deposits  were 
converted  into  circulation,  it  would  be  evidence  of  a  slight 
deficiency  of  the  latter,  and  the  bank  might,  with  advantage 
to  itself  and  the  community,  exchange  an  equal  amount  of 
its  gold  for  securities. 

Had  such  been  the  system,  there  would  have  been  no  re- 
vulsions to  alarm  the  prudent  and  drive  them  from  trade. 
On  the  contrary,  steady  action  and  profitable  business  would 
have  tended  to  increase  the  number  of  persons  among  whom 
to  select  its  customers ;  to  increase  the  permanent  value  of 
capital ;  and  to  increase  the  dividends  of  the  stockholders. 
While  the  proprietors  of  the  bank  were  thus  benefited,  the 
people  of  England  would  have  been  enabled  to  avoid  losses, 


200         MAN  AND  HIS  STANDARD  OF  VALUE. 

to  the  extent  probably  of  .£100,000,000,  resulting  from  the 
violent  revulsions  in  the  United  States :  Canada :  South 
America:  India:  and  in  almost  every  other  part  of  the  world: 
produced  by  the  extraordinary  unsteadiness  that  has  been 
manifested.  The  directors,  on  their  part,  would  have  avoided 
the  anxiety  resulting  from  the  existence  of  large  liabilities 
accompanied  by  small  means,  and  they  would  have  been 
spared  the  humiliation  of  seeking  aid  from  the  continent. 
All  would  have  been  benefited. 

It  is  usual  to  attribute  the  difficulties  of  the  institution  to 
a  necessity  for  importing  corn  ;  but  a  moment's  reflection 
will  satisfy  the  reader,  that  if  it  retained  in  its  possession,  in 
bullion,  the  whole  of  the  unemployed  capital  of  individuals  : 
with  which  alone  could  foreign  corn  be  purchased,  except  so 
far  as  manufactures  would  be  received  in  payment :  it  would 
be  entirely  unimportant  whether  the  owners  thereof  withdrew 
it,  or  left  it  in  its  vaults.  If  corn  were  needed,  the  owners 
of  bullion  would  exchange  their  commodity  for  the  one  they 
wanted,  and  the  bank  would  have  no  occasion  to  feel  that 
any  such  transaction  had  taken  place.  It  would  have  the 
same  amount  to  invest,  whether  the  bullion  in  its  vaults  were 
,£1,000,000,  or  £16,000,000.  Corn  would  rise  in  price, 
and  sugar  would  fall :  but  the  rate  of  interest,  or  the  price 
of  money,  would  be  scarcely  at  all  effected.  Not  having 
availed  itself  of  the  depositors'  capital,  to  force  down  the 
rate  of  interest,  the  withdrawal  thereof  would  not  compel 
it  to  raise  that  rate.  Perfect  steadiness  in  the  currency  is 
entirely  consistent  with  variations  in  the  crops.  They  have 
no  necessary  connection  with  each  other. 

It  may  be  asked,  why  the  use  of  the  money  of  individual 
depositors  should  be  more  calculated  to  produce  unsteadi- 
ness than  that  of  the  £2,500,000  of  public  deposits  above 
referred  to  ?  The  answer  is,  that  to  that  extent  the  public 
appear  never  to  seek  to  use  the  funds  in  the  hands  of  the 
bank  ;  whereas,  individual  depositors  never  willingly  permit 
their  capital  to  lie  unproductive,  and  are  always  seeking  the 


MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF   VALUE.  201 

means  of  investing  it.  The  man  who  has  .£1000  in  his 
desk,  and  is  seeking  to  employ  it,  produces  a  certain  effect 
upon  the  market ;  but  if,  while  thus  engaged,  he  places  it 
for  safe  keeping  with  a  man  who  uses  it,  a  double  effect  is 
produced.  His  J61000  is  invested,  while  he  is  in  the  mar- 
ket seeking  for  an  opportunity  to  make  it  yield  him  interest. 
Prices  rise  in  consequence  of  this  double  action,  which  does 
not  take  place  in  regard  to  the  small  amount  of  public  de- 
posits to  which  we  have  referred. 

In  regard  to  those  deposits,  we  have  had  abundant  evi- 
dence of  the  injury  that  may  result  from  permitting  them  to 
be  employed  to  an  unlimited  extent.  The  excess  of  re- 
ceipts, in  1835  and  1836,  was  chiefly  at  New  York,  and  at 
the  land  offices  of  the  West.  As  fast  as  it  was  accumulated 
at  the  first,  it  was  lent  out  to  the  merchants  to  enable  them 
to  extend  their  importations,  and  thus  increase  the  surplus 
revenue.  In  the  West,  it  was  lent  to  land  speculators,  who 
paid  it  to  the  government  on  one  day,  and  on  the  next  bor- 
rowed it  from  the  bank  to  buy  more  land.  The  government 
parted  with  its  land,  for  which  it  held  the  engagement  of  a 
deposit  bank,  and  the  latter  held  the  note  of  the  land-jobber. 
In  the  same  way,  the  surplus  of  the  British  revenue  being 
lent  out  to  the  merchants  of  Liverpool  and  London,  has  a 
tendency  to  promote  importation  and  to  stimulate  impro- 
perly the  increase  of  the  public  revenue  :  and  consequently 
to  increase  the  surplus  to  be  left  at  the  disposal  of  the  bank. 

Much  disturbance  is  now  produced  by  the  accumulation 
of  the  public  moneys  during  the  quarter,  to  be  lent  by  the 
bank,  and  then  called  in,  to  be  paid  out  in  dividends:  the 
consequence  of  which  is,  that  money  is  always  higher  before, 
and  lower  after  quarter-day,  than  the  average.  Were  the 
bank  deprived  of  the  power  of  lending  those  moneys,  a  mode 
would  probably  be  devised  of  paying  them  in  advance  :  and 
thus  a  cause  of  disturbance,  now  existing,  would  be  re- 
moved. The  mass  of  the  public  debt  is  held  by  institutions 
and  individuals  that  intend  to  keep  it,  and  that  desire  to  re- 
2C 


202  MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE. 

invest  the  interest  at  the  most  favourable  moment.  Were 
the  bank  to  arrange  to  anticipate  the  dividends  on  all  stock 
deposited  with  them,  the  owners  would  soon  find  that  their 
interests  would  be  promoted  by  receiving  them  in  anticipa- 
tion of  the  general  payment,  and  investing  when  money  was 
least  abundant,  rather  than  by  waiting  until  it  was  most 
abundant:  and  by  degrees  the  business  of  paying  dividends, 
instead  of  being  crowded  into  a  few  days,  would  be  distri- 
buted throughout  the  year ;  to  the  benefit  of  the  bank  and 
the  receivers  of  dividends.  The  one  would  receive  interest 
for  the  time  anticipated,  and  the  other  would  invest  with 
more  advantage  from  being  able  to  obtain  them  at  any  mo- 
ment :  while  the  community  would  gain,  because  the  inter- 
val between  the  accumulation  and  investment  of  capital 
would  be  lessened. 

England  is  now  the  great  market  for  the  gold  and  silver 
of  the  world,  and  there  is,  consequently,  towards  it  a  con- 
stant stream  of  those  commodities.  They  are  arrested 
on  their  way  from  the  place  of  production  to  that  of  con- 
sumption, and  pass  from  hand  to  hand  for  a  short  time ;  but 
their  tendency  to  the  crucible  of  the  goldsmith  is  constant, 
and  their  arrival  there  inevitable.  That  country  has  thus 
far  been  to  the  monetary  world,  what  the  ocean  is  to  the 
physical :  and  the  tendency  of  water  to  the  one  is  not  greater 
nor  more  steady  than  would  have  been  that  of  bullion  to  the 
other,  had  the  level  been  preserved  as  steadily.  The  slight- 
est increase  in  the  supply  of  water,  in  any  quarter,  is  marked 
by  an  increase  of  that  tendency  ;  while  with  every  diminu- 
tion in  the  supply  its  movements  become  more  sluggish. 
Were  the  ocean  to  change  its  level  forty,  fifty,  or  a  hun- 
dred feet  at  a  time,  as  does  the  currency  of  England,  not 
only  would  the  flow  be  arrested,  but  we  should  see  established 
a  counter-current,  producing  ruin  in  all  parts  of  the  earth. 
Precisely  such  is  the  effect  produced  by  England,  when  she 
compels  the  export  of  bullion  to  any  part  of  America :  a 
trade  as  unnatural  as  would  be  the  export  of  cotton  to  India, 


MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF   VALUE.  203 

or  of  tea  to  China.  With  the  United  States,  the  export  of 
the  precious  metals  is  a  proper  branch  of  trade.  They  arc 
one  of  the  channels  by  which  the  products  of  Mexico  pass  to 
the  place  of  chief  consumption,  and  silver  flows  from  thence 
as  naturally  as  do  cotton  and  corn. 

It  may  be  said,  that  even  were  the  bank  regular  in  her 
operations,  she  could  not  control  the  movements  of  the  other 
banks.  Such  is  not  the  case.  She  has  been  unable  to  re- 
gulate them  in  time  past,  because,  from  her  own  irregularity 
of  action  she  has  been  unable  even  to  control  her  own  move- 
ments. With  perfect  steadiness  on  her  part,  every  change  in 
every  part  of  the  kingdom  would  be  as  readily  observed  as 
are  variations  in  the  temperature  by  the  nicest  thermometer ; 
and  the  check  to  every  attempt  at  excess  would  follow  in- 
stantly on  its  discovery.  The  people  themselves  are  compe- 
tent to  this,  as  will  be  shown  whenever  they  shall  have  afforded 
them  the  means  of  discovering  the  existence  of  such  excess, 
but  that  is  not  afforded  by  the  law  of  1844,  which  makes 
the  blind  leaders  of  the  blind. 

We  think  that  a  careful  examination  of  the  facts  we  have 
submitted  must  tend  to  satisfy  our  readers  that  it  is  possible 
to  establish  a  system  of  such  perfectly  steady  action  that  the 
movements  of  the  world  may  be  measured  by  it.  Perfect 
freedom  of  action  would  be  far  preferable ;  but  as  it  is  highly 
unlikely  that  the  bank  will  be,  for  some  years  to  come,  di- 
vested of  the  monopolies  she  enjoys,  we  have  desired  to  show 
that  she  might  exercise  her  privileges  in  a  manner  that  would 
prevent  all  further  injury :  and  that  she  might  do  this,  not 
only  without  loss  to  her  stockholders,  but  with  positive  ad- 
vantage to  them.  She  has  a  monopoly  of  the  right  of  fur- 
nishing the  only  species  of  currency  that  circulates  through- 
out the  kingdom,  and  she  has  likewise  a  monopoly  of  the 
public  deposits.  She  should  confine  herself  to  the  employ- 
ment of  the  capital  thus  placed  at  her  disposal,  and  not  enter 
into  competition  with  the  owners  of  unemployed  capital 
placed  with  her  for  safe  keeping ;  but  leave  them  to  deter- 


204  MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE. 

mine  for  themselves  whether  they  will  use  it  or  not,  and  whe- 
ther they  will  themselves  superintend  its  management,  or  as- 
sociate with  their  neighbours  to  open  shops  for  that  purpose. 
If  there  be  a  legitimate  demand  for  money,  they  have  a  right 
to  the  enjoyment  of  the  interest  paid  for  the  use  of  their  own 
capital.  If  there  be  not :  and  they  are  quite  as  competent  to 
judge  of  this  as  the  bank  directors:  it  is  injurious  to  them  to 
have  a  competitor  in  the  market,  offering  to  lend  their  mo- 
ney, when  they  themselves  cannot  find  persons  willing  to  em- 
ploy it :  and  thus  forcing  down  the  rate  of  interest,  and  com- 
pelling them  to  seek  abroad  for  means  of  investment.  Were 
she  to  abstain  from  such  interferences  with  individual  inte- 
rests, she  might  reconcile  the  community  to  the  continuance, 
for  a  little  further  time,  of  the  monopoly  she  now  enjoys,  and 
she  would  certainly  obtain  a  higher  average  rate  of  interest 
than  now  :  do  as  large  an  average  amount  of  business  :  and 
make  quite  as  good  dividends:  particularly  if  competition 
should  induce  a  little  economy  in  the  management,  which 
now  does  not  exist.  What  is  true  of  her,  is  equally  true  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Our  banks  have  been  led  away 
by  the  idea  of  privileges  for  which  they  have  paid,  and 
\vhich  they  have  desired  to  use :  and  the  consequence  has 
been  that  their  dividends  have  been  less  than  they  would  have 
been  under  a  system  of  perfect  freedom  of  competition.  All 
the  banks  of  Pennsylvania  divided,  for  a  quarter  of  a  centu- 
ry, from  1815  to  1840,  less  than  six  and  a  tenth  per  cent. 
The  average  of  the  dividends  of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode 
Island,  where  freedom  has  been  almost  perfect,  has  been 
nearer  the  value  of  money  in  those  states  than  it  has  been  in 
the  other.  Over-trading  produces  a  necessity  for  under-trad- 
ing ;  and  not  only  is  the  excess  of  gain  then  lost,  but  there 
is  accumulated  a  mass  of  bad  debts,  tending  for  a  time  to 
deprive  the  stockholders  of  dividends  altogether ;  as  we  have 
so  recently  seen  to  be  the  case.  The  receiver  of  eight  per 
cent,  in  one  year  has  nothing  in  the  next,  and  is  obliged  to 
congratulate  himself,  if  his  capital,  though  unprofitable,  prove 


MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE.  205 

yet  whole.  Throughout  the  country,  it  is  seen,  that  the  mo- 
netary systems  of  the  States  are  steady  and  profitable  to  the 
owners  and  the  community,  in  direct  proportion  to  the  free- 
dom that  is  granted.  The  greatest  of  all  regulators  is  per- 
fect liberty  of  action,  securing  unlimited  competition,  whe- 
ther by  individuals  or  associations  :  leaving  to  the  latter  to  ar- 
range with  the  public  the  terms  on  which  they  will  trade  with 
each  other,  whether  of  limited  or  unlimited  liability. 

We  have  said  that  banks  were  as  harmless  as  shoe- shops. 
Both  are  subject  to  precisely  the  same  laws.  The  one  is  a 
place  to  which  shoemakers  bring  their  products,  with  a  view 
to  enable  each  person  in  want  of  shoes  to  obtain  such  as  will 
exactly  fit  his  feet.  If  no  such  place  of  exchange  existed, 
men  with  large  feet  would  be  travelling  one  street,  and  en- 
countering men  with  only  small  shoes  for  sale,  while  in  an- 
other street,  would  be  found  men  with  large  shoes  meeting 
men  with  small  feet:  the  result  of  all  which  would  be  that 
many  would  have  corns  from  wearing  shoes  that  were  too  large ; 
while  of  the  rest,  the  chief  part  would  be  suffering  with 
pinched  toes,  bunions,  and  other  results  of  shoes  that  were 
too  small.  The  quantity  of  shoes  in  market  would  be  al- 
wrays  greater  than  wrould  be  needed  if  there  existed  a  place 
of  exchange,  and  the  loss  of  time  by  both  buyers  and  sellers 
would  be  exceedingly  great ;  and  withal  nobody  would  be 
fitted,  and  there  would  be  no  steadiness  of  prices.  The 
shoemaker  would  be  enabled  at  one  moment  to  insist  upon 
more  than  he  had  a  right  to  claim,  because  possessing  the 
only  pair  that  would  suit  the  man  to  be  fitted ;  but  at  an- 
other, when  half  a  dozen  with  the  same  sized  shoes  chanced 
to  meet  with  the  single  customer,  the  price  would  be  as  much 
below  the  mark*  Where  trade  is  free,  shoe-shops  exist  in 
the  quantity  necessary  for  the  business  to  be  done,  and  their 
number  tends  to  increase  in  a  proportion  rather  below  that 
of  the  increase  of  the  population  and  wealth  of  the  commu- 
nity ;  and  with  every  step  in  this  progress,  men  are  enabled 
more  readily  to  supply  themselves  with  shoes :  while  the  quan- 

18 


206         MAN  AND  HIS  STANDARD  OF  VALUE. 

tity  required  to  be  kept  on  hand  by  the  shoe- dealer,  tends 
steadily  to  decrease  in  its  proportion  to  the  quantity  sold,  and 
the  price  becomes  daily  more  and  more  uniform.  There  is  a 
diminution  in  the  number  of  shoes  idle  for  want  of  feet,  and 
of  feet  idle  for  want  of  shoes. 

A  bank  is  a  shop  belonging  to  the  owners  of  disengaged, 
capital :  money,  or  currency :  who  club  their  means  for  its 
formation,  and  then  divide  the  same  into  such  sums  as  suit 
the  wants  of  the  various,  persons  who  desire  to  obtain  the  aid 
of  capital:  thus  making  shoes  to  fit  the  feet  of  their  customers. 
One  hundred  very  small  capitalists,  thus  associated,  may,  in 
one  place,  grant  aid  to  the  great  manufacturer ;  while,  in 
another  place,  may  be  seen  half  a  dozen  large  capitalists, 
owners  of  the  bank,  granting  aid  to  a  thousand  farmers,  me- 
chanics, small  traders,  &c.*  Where  no  such  shop  exists,  the 
farmer  may  want  aid  to  purchase  seed  or  manure  :  the  me- 
chanic may  suffer  for  want  of  a  steam-engine  :  and  the  manu- 
facturer for  want  of  ability  to  keep  on  hand  a  sufficient  supply 
of  materials:  and  all  may  seek  for  a  long  time  before  finding 
a  person  that  has  the  precise  sum  they  wish  to  borrow,  and  is 
willing  to  receive  the  security  they  have  to  offer ;  while  at 
the  same  moment,  other  persons  who  are  able  to  afford  the 
desired  aid,  and  would  be  willing  to  receive  the  security,  are 
seeking  in  vain  for  persons  willing  to  employ  their  capital. 
The  money-shop  here  performs  the  same  duty  as  the  shoe- 
shop.  It  fits  the  labourer  with  capital,  and  the  capitalist  \vith 
labour;  and  the  less  interference  the  more  perfect  is  the  fit. 
Were  the  trade  in  money  free,  the  number  of  money-shops 
would,  like  that  of  the  shoe-shops,  increase  in  a  ratio  some- 
what less  rapid  than  that  of  wealth  and  population  ;  and  with 
every  step  in  this  progress,  there  would  be  increased  facility 


*  Where  land  is  divided,  and  trade  free.  large  capitalists  do  not  buy  bank 

stock;  because  their  capital,  otherwise  invested,  yields  larger  returns.     No 

better  evidence  need  be  desired  of  unsoundness  in  any  system,  than  the  fact 

that  such  men  hold  bank  stock,  to  any  extent,  as  a  permanent  investment. 

anks  should,  and  would,  if  let  alone,  be  only  larger  savings'  funds. 


MAN    AND    HIS    STANJARD    OF  VALUE.  207 

for  promptly  investing  capital,  and  increased  facility  on  the 
part  of  the  labourer  in  obtaining  the  aid  he  desired.  The 
amount  of  capital  unproductive  to  its  owners  for  want  of  la- 
bour, and  remaining  on  deposit  to  their  credit,  would  dimi- 
nish ;  as  would  the  power  of  banks  to  trade  upon  borrowed 
capital :  and  thus  every  increase  of  freedom  would  tend  to 
give  increased  steadiness  in  their  action. 

The  banks  of  Rhode  Island,  and  of  New  England  generally, 
trade  largely  on  capital,  and  little  on  credit,  because  capital 
can  be  invested  promptly  and  freely.  In  England,  it  is 
directly  the  reverse.  Restrictions  throw  the  trade  into  the 
hands  of  the  few  ;  and  banks  of  all  kinds,  from  the  great  one 
in  Threadneedle  street,  down  to  the  smallest  private  banker 
in  the  kingdom,  trade  upon  credit  rather  than  upon  capital. 
Joint-stock  banks  are  bolstered  up  by  long  lists  of  what  are 
termed  «  a  wealthy  proprietary,"  who  are  frequently  only 
great  speculators ;  for  men  who  are  really  wealthy  will  not 
assume  the  liabilities  to  which  owners  of  bank  stocks  are  sub- 
jected. 

The  object  sought  to  be  obtained  by  aid  of  the  several  bank 
restriction  acts  is  directly  the  reverse  of  what  has  been  de- 
scribed as  existing  in  Rhode  Island.  They  prohibit  the 
formation  of  new  associations  for  the  opening  of  shops  at 
which  the  owners  of  disengaged  capital  can  meet  the  owners 
of  labour  that  need  its  aid,  while  they  maintain  in  full  force 
all  the  previously  existing  penalties  and  liabilities  ;  and  thus 
tend  to  increase  the  quantity  of  capital  idle  in  the  form  of 
deposits  :  to  increase  the  power  of  banks  to  overtrade  :  and 
to  produce  speculation,  to  result  in  the  destruction  of  their 
customers  and  themselves. 

They  tend  also  to  dimmish  the  facility  of  obtaining  circu- 
lating notes,  and  thus  to  increase  the  quantity  kept  on  hand 
by  individuals:  thereby  enabling  banks  to  overtrade  by  means 
of  their  circulation,  to  an  extent  greater  than  could  exist  were 
they  not  in  force.  Every  provision  of  those  acts  tends  to 
increase  the  power  of  the  bank  to  produce  disturbance,  by 


208  MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE. 

X 

overtrading  at  one  time,  followed  by  undertrading  at  tie  next 
Every  part  of  them  tends  to  increase  restrictions,  and  to  pro- 
duce increased  unsteadiness  in  the  supply  of  money,  and  in- 
equality in.  its  price.  Every  part  tends  to  enable  the  few  to 
enrich  themselves  at  the  cost  of  the  many.  Every  part  is  in 
opposition  to  the  spirit  of  the  age.  Freedom  of  trade,  whether 
in  money  or  in  cotton,  goes  hand  in  hand  with  civilization. 
The  bank  restriction  acts  are  a  step,  and  a  serious  one, 
towards  barbarism.  They  are  in  keeping  with  the  system  of 
tithes,  settlements,  and  entails,  by  which  the  improvement  of 
the  land  is  prevented  ;  and  with  that  wrhich  compels  men  to 
be  still  using  turnpikes  where  they  might  have  had  railroads : 
thereby  preventing  them  from  combining  the  lime  with  the 
clay,  and  compelling  them  to  cultivate  poor  soils  for  9s.  a 
week,  with  corn  at  a  high  price  ;  when  they  might  be  now 
cultivating  rich  soils  at  12s.  a  week,  and  raising  food  that 
could  be  sold  cheaply,  and  yet  pay  better  rents  than  at  pre- 
sent. They  tend  to  prevent  the  local  application  of  capital ; 
and  to  force  it  into  London,  to  be  driven  abroad  :  when,  if 
used  at  home,  it  would  yield  twice  the  return.  They  are  not 
in  keeping  with  the  time. 


In  regard  to  money,  the  policy  of  France  has  been  the 
same  as  in  all  others  of  the  machinery  of  exchange,  viz.  to 
increase  its  quantity  and  deteriorate  its  quality :  and  thus  to 
prevent  the  application  of  capital  or  labour  to  production,  and 
to  compel  men  to  continue  to  cultivate  the  poor  soils.  She 
has  silver  in  abundance ;  but  she  has  few  spades,  ploughs, 
horses,  cattle,  or  steam-engines.  Every  thing  is  forced  to 
centre  in  Paris ;  and  the  government  borrows  at  four  per  cent., 
while  the  poor  cultivator  pays  in  interest,  taxes  on  registra- 
tion of  mortgages,  and  law  expenses,  more  than  half  the  pro- 
duct of  his  little  property.  The  government  cultivates  Algeria, 
and  he  abandons  the  meadow  to  seek  the  hill-side  ;  or,  in 


MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF    VALUE.  209 

despair,  flies  from  his  land  and  turns  soldier  :  preferring  to 
eat  the  bread  raised  by  others,  rather  than  to  raise  bread  for 
others,  while  eating  himself  the  miserable  compound  of  chest- 
nuts, a  little  flour  and  water,  that  falls  to  his  share.  In  regard 
to  currency,  as  everywhere,  the  rule  of  France  is,  and  has 
always  been  :  great  means  for  small  ends. 


Closely  connected  in  trade  with  England,  the  people  of 
the  United  States  have  known  little  of  self-government  in 
regard  to  the  machinery  of  trade  known  as  money.  At  one 
moment  capital  stagnated  in  London,  and  States  and  indi- 
viduals were  solicited  to  take  it  at  low  interest ;  and  canals, 
and  roads,  and  factories,  and  furnaces,  were  commenced. 
At  the  next,  capital  was  dear  in  London  ;  and  their  markets 
were  filled  with  cloths  and  iron,  to  be  converted  into  money, 
to  be  transmitted  to  England  ;  and  then  prices  fell,  and  manu- 
facturers and  iron-masters  were  ruined.  The  whole  system 
of  that  country  has  been,  and  is,  unsound  and  irregular;  be- 
cause she  has  surrounded  land  and  capital  with  restrictions 
that  forbid  the  existence  of  regularity.  For  a  series  of  years 
she  forbade  the  investment  of  capital  in  roads,  and  forced  it 
out  to  Illinois  and  Michigan  :  and  soon  all  was  ruin  abroad 
and  at  home.  Now  she  is  forcing  it  into  roads,  and  all  is 
ruin  at  home.  Happily  for  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
no  loans  were  made  to  them,  or  they  too  would  be  ruined  ; 
but  how  far  they  will  escape  remains  yet  to  be  seen.  She 
has  commenced  the  habit  of  looking  towards  home  ;  but  many 
years  have  yet,  we  fear,  to  elapse  before  she  will  fairly  apply 
her  wealth  and  labour  to  the  production  of  food  ;  culti- 
vating her  own  rich  soils  instead  of  the  poor  ones  of  Aus- 
tralia and  Canada:  and  until  she  shall  do  so,  her  system  must 
continue  to  be  unsound  and  irregular,  unprofitable  to  herself, 
and  dangerous  to  those  intimately  connected  with  her  in 
2D  18* 


210         MAX  AND  HIS  STANDARD  OF  VALUE. 

trade  ;  and  of  this  no  further  evidence  need  be  desired  than 
is  furnished  by  the  events  of  the  present  year. 


With  each  step  in  the  passage  from  the  poor  to  the  rich 
soils,  population  and  wealth  tend  to  increase  more  rapidly  ; 
and  with  each  step  in  their  progress,  there  is  increased  de- 
mand for  both  :  giving  to  the  labourer  an  increased  propor- 
tion of  a  larger  product ;  and  to  the  owner  of  capital  an  in- 
creased return  from  a  diminished  proportion  :  and  affording 
to  all  increased  power  of  accumulation.  The  value  of  land 
increases  with  the  development  of  its  powers,  and  that  de- 
velopment results  from  the  application  of  labour  and  capital. 
Every  measure  tending  to  restrict  the  amount  applied,  tends 
to  lessen  the  wages  of  the  labourer,  and  the  profits  of  the 
capitalist,  both  of  whom  can  seek  elsewhere  the  employment 
denied  to  them  at  home  :  and  tends  in  a  still  greater  degree  to 
affect  the  interests  of  the  land  that  cannot  fly.  The  land- 
owner is  therefore,  most  of  all,  interested  in  the  abolition  of 
every  regulation  and  restriction  that  tends  to  the  expulsion 
of  either  ;  and  especially  interested  in  the  repeal  of  every  law 
that  tends  to  prevent  local  unions  for  the  formation  of  banks, 
insurance  companies,  manufacturing  associations,  and  all 
other  modes  of  combination  tending  to  enable  the  fashioner 
to  eat  his  food  on  the  spot  on  which  it  is  produced ;  and 
thus  to  improve  the  quality  and  diminish  the  quantity  of 
the  machinery  of  exchange.  With  each  step  in  the  diminu- 
tion of  the  quantity  required  for  use,  the  quality  improves, 
and  fluctuations  tend  to  cease.  With  each  step,  banks  be- 
come more  useful  and  more  safe  ;  with  each,  man  acquires 
increased  power  to  command  the  aid  of  wealth  ;  with  each 
he  obtains  increased  reward  to  labour ;  with  each,  the  pre- 
cious metals  become  less  necessary  as  a  part  of  the  machinery 
of  exchange  ;  and  with  each  he  acquires  increased  power  to 


MAN    AND    HIS    STANDARD    OF   VALUE.  211 

command  the  use  of  them  for  other  purposes  tending  to  im- 
prove his  taste,  and  to  promote  his  enjoyment  of  life. 

The  PAST  says  to  the  sovereign  of  the  PRESENT :  "If  you 
would  reign  over  a  numerous,  wealthy,  arid  prosperous,  peo- 
ple :  diminish  the  machinery  of  exchange  between  the  pro- 
ducer and  the  consumer,  by  reducing  the  demand  for  money 
to  pay  taxes,  thus  diminishing  the  necessity  for  tax-gatherers ; 
and  increasing  the  number  of  the  producers." 

To  the  capitalist :  « If  you  wish  large  returns  to  your  capi- 
tal :  labour  for  the  abolition  of  laws  tending  to  restrict  you 
in  regard  to  the  modes  of  its  employment." 

To  the  landlord :  « If  you  wish  large  rents  :  oppose  all 
measures  tending  to  the  export  of  wealth  and  population,  and 
labour  to  remove  restrictions  on  the  land." 

To  the  labourer :  « If  you  wish  large  wages :  seek  union 
with  your  fellows ;  labour  and  economize ;  promote  the  growth 
of  wealth  ;  and  wealth  will  give  you  power." 

To  all:  " Avoid  war  and  waste  !" 


212  MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW    MAN. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MAN     AND     HIS     FELLOW     MAN. 

THE  early  cultivator  has  no  means  of  self-defence.  He 
may  be  enslaved  by  any  one  stronger  than  himself.  His 
neighbour  is  distant,  and  they  are  separated  from  each 
other  by  forests  and  swamps.  The  strong  man  constitutes 
himself  proprietor  of  their  persons  and  their  lands,  the  pro- 
ceeds of  which  he  receives,  allowing  them  what  he  pleases  in 
return.  He  is  the  lord,  and  they  are  serfs  or  slaves.  They 
cultivate  the  poor  soils,  whose  small  returns  scarcely  afford 
sufficient  food  for  themselves :  but  of  this  small  quantity  the 
lord  takes  a  large  proportion.  They  raise  wheat  and  hogs, 
but  they  eat  bread  made  of  oats  arid  acorns.  Voluntary 
union  being  here  impossible  among  the  many,  the  few  have 
power  to  compel  union ;  and  men  work  together  in  gangs,  to 
build  forts  or  castles  for  their  masters  :  to  murder  the  subjects 
of  his  neighbour  lord  :  or  to  burn  their  houses  and  ravage 
their  little  farms.  Sometimes,  we  find  them  associated  to- 
gether in  larger  masses  for  the  building  of  palaces,  the  erec- 
tion of  pyramids,  great  cathedrals,  and  magnificent  tombs  ; 
or  for  the  cutting  of  canals  through  fertile  lands,  whose  pes- 
tilential air  sweeps  them  off  by  hundreds  of  thousands :  and 
again,  similar  masses  are  found  plundering  rich  cities  ;  ra- 
vaging kingdoms;  fighting  battles  by  sea  and  land;  or  build  ing 
pyramids  of  human  heads  :  the  object  of  all  these  operations 
being  to  hand  down  to  an  admiring  world  the  names  of 
a  Tamerlane,  Bajazet,  Scipio,  Frederick,  Louis,  or  Napoleon, 
who  are  held  to  be  great,  because  of  the  infinite  littleness 
of  the  people  over  whose  destinies  they  rule. 

In  all  cases  of  involuntary  union,  the  principle  of  unlimited 


MAN    AND    HIS   FELLOW   MAN.  213 

liability :  solidarite :  is  seen  to  exist.  The  lord  wants  a 
certain  number  of  men,  and  they  must  come.  He  loses  a 
portion  of  his  subjects  in  battle,  and  he  calls  on  the  balance  to 
make  up  the  deficiency.  He  wants  a  certain  amount  of  an- 
nual contribution,  and  those  who  can  pay  must  make  up  for 
those  who  cannot.  The  Hindoo  who  remains  at  home  pays 
the  taxes  of  those  who  fly  to  seek  in  plundering  others,  satis- 
faction for  having  themselves  been  plundered.  By  the  con- 
scription laws  of  France,  under  the  Empire,  and  perhaps  even 
now,  the  family  is  bound  for  the  services  in  the  field  of  its 
members ;  and  if  the  elder  son  desert,  the  second  is  bound 
to  take  his'  place.  The  nation  is  held  bound  to  supply  the 
demands  of  the  army,  and  when  the  boys  of  eighteen  are  ex- 
hausted, the  conscription  is  anticipated  and  those  of  sixteen 
are  taken  to  fill  the  ranks.  Nero  would  have  the  people  of 
Rome  with  but  one  head,  that  he  might  take  it  off.  Towns, 
and  cities  are  held  by  conquerors  bound  for  the  conduct  of 
all  their  citizens,  and  history  is  filled  with  cases  of  their  utter 
destruction,  accompanied  by  the  murder  of  the  men,  and  the 
violation  of  women,  in  satisfaction  for  the  error,  or  the  crimes 
of  individuals.  With  the  growth  of  population  and  wealth,  the 
better  soils  are  cultivated,  and  men  are  enabled  .to  live  closer 
to  each  other :  and  voluntary  union  tends  gradually  to  super- 
sede the  involuntary.  Ceasing  to  labour  in  gangs,  they  cul- 
tivate pieces  of  land  for  which  they  pay  rent :  and  thus  indi- 
viduality grows  with  wealth,  while  union  tends  to  give 
them  a  self- defensive  power,  by  aid  of  which  they  obtain  a 
gradually  increasing  proportion  of  the  product  of  their  la- 
bour. 

The  fashioner  needs  the  service  of  the  labourer,  and  he  is 
willing  to  protect  him  in  leaving  the  service  of  his  lord,  to 
come  to  him  in  the  little  town.  The  lord  looks  with  jealousy 
upon  all  voluntary  union,  as  tending  to  lessen  his  powers  of 
government :  and  at  first  he  seizes  his  slave,  carrying  him 
back  to  the  land  from  which  he  had  escaped.  By  degrees, 
however,  the  town  grows  and  becomes  strong  to  defend  it- 


214  MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW   MAN. 

self  and  the  runaway  serfs  who  seek  refuge  within  its  walls. 
This  state  of  things  having  arrived,  it  becomes  necessary  for 
the  lord  to  content  himself  with  a  smaller  proportion  of  the 
proceeds  of  labour,  that  he  may  retain  a  portion  of  his  serfs. 
To  make  amends  for  this,  he  must  devote  more  of  his  in- 
come to  the  improvement  of  his  land  :  that  the  amount  of  his 
rents  may  grow,  even  if  his  proportion  diminish.  New  soils 
are  brought  into  cultivation,  and  the  returns  are  larger ;  but 
with  each  step  in  this  progress,  there  arises  an  increased 
power  of  consumption  on  the  part  of  the  people,  and  a  more 
rapid  increased  demand  for  labour  in  the  towns  :  and  thus  the 
competition  of  landlord  and  manufacturer  tends  to  enable 
the  labourer  to  have  a  continually  increasing  power  to  deter- 
mine for  himself  where  he  will  labour,  and  what  shall  be  his 
share  of  the  proceeds.  With  the  increase  of  his  power  over 
the  materials  of  the  land,  he  thus  gradually  acquires  the 
exercise  of  the  right  of  self-government. 

His  proportion  thus  increasing  with  the  growth  of  wealth, 
he  is  incited  to  exertion  :  and  with  the  increased  power  of 
determining  for  himself  the  manner  in  which  his  labour  shall 
be  applied,  it  becomes  daily  more  productive.  His  habits 
are  inexpensive,  while  those  of  his  lord  are  not.  He. 
accumulates,  while  the  other  dissipates.  He  improves  his 
style  of  living,  and  the  other  is  compelled  to  do  the  same. 
He  can  afford  it,  while  the  other  cannot.  He  buys  land, 
which  the  other  is  forced  to  sell.  He  then  cultivates  his 
own  land  and  keeps  the  rent  himself,  applying  it  to  cul- 
tivating the  better  soils.  There  is  thus  a  constant  ten- 
dency to  the  division  and  transfer  of  land  and  power,  as 
wealth  and  population  grow :  and  to  the  establishment  of 
individuality,  and  of  perfect  equality  of  physical,  moral, 
intellectual,  and  political  condition. 

If  we  look  to  England  in  the  days  of  the  Saxons,  we  see 
immense  bodies  of  land  held  by  Earl  Godwin,  and  other 
great  lords.  In  the  days  of  the  Conqueror  a  single  indi- 
vidual held  seren  hundred  manors.  Later,  the  county  of 


MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW   MAN.  215 

Norfolk  numbered  but  sixty-six  proprietors.  If  we  look  to 
Scotland,  we  find  the  number  of  proprietors  increase  as  we 
come  downwards  in  point  of  time,  in  all  those  counties  in 
which  population  and  wealth  grow  rapidly,  and  the  better 
soils  are  cultivated :  while  it  diminishes  as  we  recede  from 
the  rich  soil  of  the  Lothians,  until  we  find  the  whole  of  the 
poor  county  of  Sutherland  the  property  of  a  single  indivi- 
dual, busily  engaged  in  expelling  all  the  small  people  whose 
families  have  for  ages  exercised  rights  over  land,  guarantied 
originally  by  word,  but  unhappily  not  by  deed.  If  we  look 
to  France,  we  see  vast  properties  continuing  for  centuries 
undivided  because  of  the  slow  growth  of  wealth  and  popu- 
lation, and  so  remaining  until  the  general  confiscation  of  the 
Revolution.  Till  then,  the  lord  was  still  lord,  and  exercised 
the  droit  de  poursuite  against  the  person  of  his  absconding 
serf  who  sought  employment  in  the  towns :  which  were,  be- 
cause of  their  universal  poverty,  incapable  of  affording  him 
protection.  In  Spain,  and  Mexico,  and  Sicily,  and  India, 
and  Hungary,  we  see  immense  bodies  of  land  in  the  hands 
of  individuals.  In  all  those  countries,  war  has  prevented 
the  growth  of  wealth  and  population,  and  the  poorer  soils 
are  still  alone  cultivated.  The  reward  to  labour  is  small. 
The  labourer  has  a  small  proportion  of  a  small  product,  and  is 
a  slave,  or  little  better  :  while  the  land-owner  has  a  large  pro- 
portion, with  but  little  revenue  where  his  possessions  are 
not  immense.  If  thence  we  pass  to  the  Netherlands,  we  find 
the  better  soils  carefully  cultivated,  the  .return  to  labour 
larger,  the  condition  of  the  people  better,  and  the  power  of 
the  lord  diminished.  There,  the  tendency  to  an  increase 
of  wealth,  population,  and  freedom,  was  at  one  time  greater 
than  in  any  portion  of  continental  Europe  :  but  the  oft- 
repeated  invasions  of  French  armies  made  of  that  unfortu- 
nate country  a  great  battle-field,  and  drove  a  large  portion 
of  the  most  useful  population  to  seek  elsewhere  the  security 
denied  to  them  at  home.  Progress  has  been,  therefore,  slow ; 
but  with  the  continued  peace  of  thirty  years,  we  see  gra 


216  MAN   AND    HIS   FELLOW   MAN. 

dually  advancing  the  power  of  the  labourer  over  the  pro- 
ducts of  his  labour,  and  therewith  a  steadily  increasing  ten- 
dency towards  perfect  self-government. 

The  rent  of  land  in  England  is  estimated  at  .£30,000,000, 
and  the  proportion  which  it  bears  to  the  product  is  supposed 
to  be  one-fifth,  which  gives  £150,000,000  as  the  total  amount. 
The  number  of  proprietors  is  estimated  at  200,000,  giving 
£150  as  the  average  rental  of  each.  The  total  product  in  the 
days  of  the  Edwards  could  scarcely  have  exceeded  one-fiftieth 
of  this  amount,  or  about  £3,000,000.  Of  this,  the  lord  claimed 
probably  two-thirds,  or  £2,000,000.  The  number  of  free- 
holders recorded  in  Domesday-Book  is  twenty-six  thousand, 
but  most  of  these  must  have  been  very  small,  as  indivi- 
duals had  whole  counties :  while  the  manors  held  by  others 
varied  from  two  hundred  to  almost  eight  hundred.  In  the  ca- 
lamitous times  that  followed  tire  Conquest,  and  particularly 
during  the  contest  which  preceded  the  accession  of  the  Plan- 
tagenets,  the  mass  of  the  small  freeholders  were  swept  away, 
and  land  concentrated  itself  in  fewer  hands  ;  and  we  think 
it  doubtful  if  the  number  at  this  period,  who  were  really 
proprietors  of  freeholds,  could  have  exceeded  two  thou- 
sand :  with  an  average  income  of  £1000.* 

The  population  being  about  two  and  a  half  millions,  of 
whom  at  least  two-thirds  could  have  had  little  employment 
but  in  agriculture,  and  the  remaining  million  of  the  product 
being  divided  among  them  we  have  125.  per  head  for  each 
member  of  the  family,  or  21.  8s.  for  a  man  and  his  wife  and 
two  children.  That  this  is  not  very  wide  of  the  mark,  is 
obvious  from  the  fact  that  the  oxherd  of  this  period  has  but 
Is.  per  annum,  and  the  shepherd  10s.,  in  addition,  perhaps, 
to  a  very  small  quantity  of  very  bad  food,  without  cloth- 
ing, or  any  other  perquisite.  A  quarter  of  wheat  is  sometimes 


*  In  regard  to  this  and  other  estimates  which  follow,  it  will,  we  presume, 
be  obvious  to  the  reader  that  strict  accuracy  is  not  important,  even  if  it  could 
be  obtained.  They  are  given  with  a  view  merely  to  illustrate  the  prin- 
ciple. 


MAN   AND    HIS    FELLOW   MAN.  217 

2s.  and  sometimes  245. ,  and  frequently  much  more.  If, 
therefore,  we  estimate  the  annual  wages  at  one  quarter  of 
wheat,  or  eight  bushels,  it  is  probably  above  the  truth  :  and 
this  is  all  that  he  receives  for  his  own  clothing  and  for  pro- 
curing a  supply  of  food  and  clothing  for  his  children  ;  sup- 
posing his  wife  to  support  herself. 

The  product  of  land  at  the  present  time  being  taken  at 
£1 50,000,000,  of  which  one-fifth  goes  to  the  landlord,  there 
remain  .£120,000,000  to  be  divided ;  and  if  the  persons  de- 
pendent on  agriculture  be  three  times  as  great  as  in  the  for- 
mer period,  this  gives  .£24  per  head.  There  has  arisen, 
however,  since  then,  a  large  class  of  persons  engaged  in 
various  operations  connected  with  agriculture,  intermediate 
between  the  land-owner  and  the  labourer ;  who  absorb,  per- 
haps, one-half  of  this  amount,  leaving  the  remaining  half  to 
be  divided  among  the  labourers  :  and  giving  £12  per  head, 
or  =£48  for  the  support  of  a  family,  consisting  of  a  man,  his 
wife,  and  two  children.  This  amount  is  perhaps  too  great. 
The  latest  estimate  we  have  seen  is  <£40,  and  this  will  not, 
we  think,  vary  much  from  the  truth. 

The  average  rent  of  the  landlord  at  the  close  of  the  four- 
teenth century  being  taken  at  .£1000,  and  the  average  amount 
received  by  the  labourer's  family  at  <£2,  85.,  it  follows  that 
the  landlord's  income  of  this  period  is  sufficient  to  enable 
him  to  pay  almost  four  hundred  men :  while  the  average  of 
our  day  being  .£150,  and  the  labourer's  family  requiring  £40, 
the  average  power  of  the  representatives  of  land  is  not  equal 
to  the  pay  of  even  four  labourers.  The  ability,  in  the  early 
period,  to  pay  so  many  men  enables  land  to  command  their 
services  for  the  maintenance  of  its  power,  and  the  lord  is, 
therefore,  always  surrounded  by  hosts  of  men  ready  to  do  his 
bidding:  whether  for  the  collection  of  rerits  from  his  own  te- 
nants, or  the  plunder  of  those  of  his  neighbour.  He  is  supreme 
legislator,  exercising  his  powers  Dei  Gratia :  and  to  question 
his  right  is  treason  against  the  state,  i.  e.  against  himself. 
2E  19 


218  MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW   MAN. 

By  degrees,  however,  wealth  arid  population  grow,  better 
soils  are  cultivated,  and  forests  disappear.  Roads  are  made, 
and  the  little  territories  of  the  lords  being  thus  brought  into 
communication  with  each  other,  towns  and  cities  grow:  and 
the  people  obtain  power  to  take  to  themselves  a  larger  pro- 
portion of  the  proceeds  of  their  labour:  now  become  doubly 
productive.  Out  of  the  little  and  scattered  territories  grows 
a  kingdom  :  and  the  towns  and  cities,  and  the  labourers,  feel 
the  benefit  of  increased  wealth  and  union  in  the  gradual 
diminution  of  the  thousand  oppressions  under  which  they 
have  thus  far  laboured.  The  right  of  the  landlord  to  the 
enjoyment  of  the  tenant's  wife  :  and  his  right  to  pursue  his 
labourer,  and  inherit  his  goods  :  die  away.  Population,  and 
wealth,  and  union,  increase  still  further.  With  each  step  man 
rises  in  the  scale  until  at  length  he  comes  to  be  consulted  in 
regard  to  affairs  of  State,  and  the  payment  of  contributions. 
The  people  are  becoming  strong,  because  they  work  and 
economize.  The  landlords  are  becoming  weak,  because 
they  hunt,  and  feast,  and  make  war.  From  that  time  to  the 
present,  such  has  been  the  course  of  affairs.  With  every 
step  in  the  growth  of  wealth  and  population,  we  see  evi- 
dence of  an  increasing  tendency  to  union  among  the  people, 
because  of  the  constant  augmentation  of  the  means  of  pro- 
duction, intercourse,  and  exchange :  and  freedom  follows 
union.  With  every  such  step,  the  power  of  the  labourer 
over  the  product  of  his  labour,  whether  in  the  distribution 
between  himself  and  the  land  as  represented  by  the  lord :  or 
between  himself  and  the  government  as  represented  by  the 
lords  assembled  in  Parliament :  has  increased,  while  the 
power  of  the  land  and  its  representatives  to  control  the 
movement  of  society,  has  diminished.  With  the  more  equal 
division  of  property,  the  class  interested  in  maintaining  the 
security  of  person  and  property  has  increased  in  numbers  and 
power :  while  the  class  possessing  power  to  disturb  the  pub- 
lic peace  has  diminished  in  relative  wealth  and  strength. 
Security  at  home,  and  comparative  peace  abroad,  tend  now 


MAN    AND    HIS   FELLOW    MAN.  219 

to  facilitate  the  production  of  wealth,  and  population  tends 
rapidly  to  increase  as  better  soils  come  into  cultivation  :  and 
with  each  step  we  see  a  diminution  in  the  power  of  the  few 
to  control  the  action  of  the  many.  The  right  to  make  laws 
in  virtue  of  descent  from  lords  of  olden  time  is  no  longer, 
in  regard  to  questions  of  general  interest,  exercised  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  wishes  of  those  who  hold  their  power  from  the 
people.  Thirty  years  since,  the  House  of  Commons  still,  in 
a  great  degree,  represented  land.  Even  then  the  poor  soils 
continued  to  be  cultivated.  Wealth  grew,  and  better  soils 
were  brought  into  activity :  and  man  and  his  interests  ac- 
quired power  in  that  house,  at  the  cost  of  land.  Fifteen 
years  have  since  rolled  round,  and  man  has  even  at  this 
moment  acquired  a  stronger  representation  than  ever  before. 
He  has  obtained  a  vast  accession  to  his  power  over  his 
actions,  and  all  at  the  cost  of  land. 

The  value  of  labour  and  of  talent  is  daily  rising.  The 
value  of  mere  brute-wealth,  unaided  by  mind,  is  daily  fall- 
ing. The  time  seems  to  be  at  hand  when  every  man  must 
work,  if  he  would  maintain  his  position  in  society.  The 
direction  of  affairs  has  fallen  somewhat  under  the  control  of 
mind,  and  has  been,  to  a  certain  extent,  rescued  from  that 
of  mere  matter.  That  this  process  is  still  going  on,  is  every 
day  more  obvious.  The  men  of  our  day  are  the  representa- 
tives of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  popular  mind.  The 
measures  of  Sir  Robert  Peel  and  Lord  John  Russell  differ 
little,  because  they  are  the  decrees  of  a  larger  portion  of  the 
people  than  has  heretofore  controlled  the  management  of 
their  own  affairs.  With  another  step  the  whole  people  will 
take  part  therein,  and  then  steadiness  of  action  will  begin. 
These  results,  too,  are  the  direct  consequence  of  measures 
to  which  the  representatives  of  land  are,  and  have  been, 
prompted  by  a  desire  for  the  advancement  of  their  own  ma- 
terial interests. 

In  all  countries  power  has  gone  with  the  ownership  of 
land,  and  hence  it^is  that  where  poor  men  cultivate  poor  soils, 


220  MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW   MAN. 

the  few  appear  so  great.  With  the  growth  of  weallh  and 
population  the  land  becomes  divided,  and  the  many  acquire 
power  over  themselves  and  their  actions,  in  accordance 
with  the  decree  of  the  great  Creator,  who  made  all  men 
equal. 

The  progress  has  been,  as  yet,  comparatively  slow,  be- 
cause landlords  have  been  the  makers  of  laws  :  and  large 
armies,  and  great  fleets,  and  vast  church  establishments,  and 
numerous  colonies,  have  afforded  opportunity  to  provide  for 
their  children  out  of  the  public  purse.  With  the  increasing 
desire  for  peace  that  in  all  countries  accompanies  the  growth 
of  wealth  and  the  habit  of  self-government,  these  tenden- 
cies are  passing  away,  and  wealth  grows  more  rapidly  than 
ever :  enabling  the  labourer  and  the  mechanic,  whether 
employer  or  employed,  still  more  rapidly  to  improve  their 
condition :  while  the  land  tends  daily  more  and  more  to  be 
compelled  to  provide  for  the  families  of  its  lords,  heretofore 
supported  out  of  taxes  on  beer,  sugar,  tea,  and  coffee.  With 
the  arrival  of  the  time  when  fleets,  and  armies,  and  colonies 
shall  cease  to  exist,  and  it  seems  likely  soon  to  arrive,  the 
division  of  land  will  proceed  more  rapidly  than  ever  before  : 
and  the  necessity  for  the  exertion  of  their  powers,  whether 
mental  or  physical,  will  be  more  than  ever  felt  by  each  mem- 
ber of  the  community,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest. 

Until  recently,  the  land,  as  represented  by  the  landlord 
and  the  Church,  preyed  upon  the  tenant.  The  latter  made 
improvements  by  which  he  might  profit  during  the  lease,  as 
the  former  certainly  did  at  its  close.  Recently,  the  landlord 
has  taken  a  permanent  lease  from  the  Church  at  a  fixed  rent. 
Now,  the  tenants  are  demanding  long  leases,  with  "  tenant 
right" — or  a  right  to  be  paid  for  improvements.  From  that 
point  to  perpetual  leases,  the  distance  is  not  great :  for  as  the 
power  of  man  over  his  labour  goes  up,  wealth  increases 
more  arid  more  rapidly,  and  the  power  of  land  over  man 
goes  down.  Every  new  soil  brought  into  cultivation  gives 
power  to  the  tenant,  while  diminishing  that  of  his  lord. 


MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW   MAN.  221 

Every  railroad  that  is  made :  every  engine  employed  in 
drainage  :  every  tile  kiln  that  is  built :  every  newspaper  that 
is  printed  :  and  every  monopoly  that  is  abolished  :  tends  to 
improvement  and  equality  of  condition.  They  are  insepara- 
ble, and  those  who  would  prevent  the  last,  can  do  so  only 
by  retarding  the  progress  of  the  first. 

Such  has  been  the  tendency  in  every  country  in  which 
growing  wealth  and  population  have  facilitated  the  culti- 
vation of  the  better  soils,  and  have  enabled  men  to  live  in 
closer  connection  with  each  other ;  while  the  reverse  has 
been  the  case  in  every  one  in  which  they  have  declined. 
They  may  be  seen  increasing  in  the  happier  days  of 
Rome,  when  Latium  was  filled  with  populous  and  prosper- 
ous towns  which  made  treaties  of  commerce  with  Carthage : 
and  the  tendency  to  freedom  was  then  great.  Wealth  dis- 
appeared as  Rome  declined  towards  the  barbarism  of  the 
days  of  Scipio,  of  Marius,  and  of  Octavius.  Population 
diminished,  and  the  best  soils  went  out  of  cultivation.  The 
free  labour  of  the  Roman  citizens  was  replaced  by  that  of 
slaves,  and  the  pauper  population  of  the  city  was  fed  by 
contributions  levied  upon  Sicily,  and  Africa,  and  Egypt. 
With  growing  poverty  land  acquired  a  daily  increasing 
power,  and  the  habit  of  self-government  disappeared  ;  the 
internal  history  of  the  State,  almost  from  the  days  of  the 
elder  Brutus,  being  but  a  record  of  contests  for  power  by 
parvenus  nobles  on  the  one  hand,  and  nobles  by  descent  on 
the  other:  and  yet  the  triumph  of  a  plebeian  demagogue  in 
securing  for  himself  and  his  fellows  a  share  in  the  general 
plunder  of  the  people  of  the  State,  abroad  or  at  home,  is 
marked  in  the  story  books  which  pass  for  histories  even  in 
our  days,  as  a  triumph  of  the  people  themselves. 

With  the  diminution  of  wealth  in  Gaul,  we  see  arise  the 
great  land  owner,  with  square  leagues  of  territory,  and  sur 
rounded  by  hosts  of  slaves.     He  is  seen,  too,  in  Attica  and 
in  Sparta,  as  Greece  declined. 

The  prudent  and  industrious  man  grows  rich  and  strong. 
19* 


222  MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW    MAN. 

He  can  enforce  his  rights,  because  he  respects  those  of  others. 
The  man  who  fights  and  drinks,  closes  his  career  in  the  poor- 
house,  having  lost  all  power  of  self-government.  So  is  it  with 
nations.  In  the  history  of  none  can  we  find  this  more  tho- 
roughly illustrated  than  in  that  of  France,  which  presents  a 
record  of  selfishness,  rapacity,  and  weakness,  scarcely  paral- 
leled among  nations  claiming  a  place  among  civilized  commu- 
nities. Her  kings  have  plundered  princes,  and  nobles,  and 
people.  Her  nobles  and  princes  have  plundered  each  other, 
and  have  been  ever  ready  to  combine  with  foreign  nations 
against  the  State.  From  the  days  of  Charlemagne  to  the 
present  time,  there  has  been,  as  formerly  in  Rome,  an  un- 
ceasing contest  between  the  plebeian  aristocracy  that  owed 
its  wealth  to  the  plunder  of  the  last  war,  civil  or  foreign : 
and  the  more  noble  aristocracy  which  derived  its  title  there- 
to by  descent  from  the  heroes  of  that  which  next,  or  next  but 
one,  preceded  it :  and  the  sole  question  between  them  has 
been  as  to  who  should  now  exercise  the  right  of  plunder,  at 
home  and  abroad.  The  government  has  been  one  of  wealth 
derived  from  the  spoils  of  war  ;  from  taxation,  oppressive 
beyond  imagination  ;  and  from  the  spoliation  of  men  who 
were  sufficiently  advanced  in  civilization  to  desire  to  apply 
their  faculties  to  the  purposes  of  trade,  or  sufficiently  en- 
lightened to  think  for  themselves  in  matters  of  religion.  Both 
factions  :  the  new  nobles  and  the  old  :  have  exerted  their  ener- 
gies in  plundering  and  murdering  the  people,  and  the  peo- 
ple have  done  the  same  by  them.  In  her  external  relations, 
we  find  the  same  universal  selfishness  and  rapacity  miscalled 
"love  of  glory."  The  consequence  has  been  universal 
feebleness.  The  people  have  been  unable  to  assert  their 
rights  against  princes  and  nobles,  while  princes  and  noble, 
have  been  equally  powerless  against  kings  and  ministers  ; 
and  the  whole  nation  has  exhibited  at  all  times,  from  the 
days  of  Rollo  to  that  of  Waterloo,  an  almost  total  incapa- 
city for  self-defence.  French  armies  have  been,  time  after 
time,  defeated  in  Holland,  Germany,  Switzerland,  Spain,  and 


MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW   MAN.  223 

Italy:  while  foreign  armies  have, repeatedly,  unresisted,  tra- 
versed France  for  hundreds  of  miles,  and  her  severest  de- 
feats have  been  on  her  own  soil.  Turbulence  and  rapacity, 
vanity  and  feebleness,  are  the  characteristics  which  distin- 
guish her  history  beyond  that  of  any  nation  of  Europe. 
Under  such  circumstances,  self-government  could  have  no 
existence. 

By  no  people  have  the  rights  of  others  been  so  much  re- 
spected as  by  the  people  of  the  English  colonies  of  America, 
now  the  United  States.  In  their  progress  west,  they  have 
encountered  decaying  tribes  of  savages,  whose  vanity  has 
sometimes  produced  war.  In  their  progress  south-west, 
they  have  encountered  the  half- civilized  people  of  Mexico  ; 
and  there,  again,  the  vanity  of  the  barbarian  has  produced  a 
war  that  we  could  wish  had  been  avoided.  With  these  ex- 
ceptions, they  have  never  fired  a  musket  but  in  self-defence. 
Peace  has  given  wealth  and  strength  to  the  people  and  to 
the  nation.  Every  man  determines  for  himself  what  he  will 
do  with  his  time  and  his  talents ;  selling  them  to  the  best 
advantage :  and  every  one  participates  in  determining  the 
amount  of  contribution  that  shall  be  required  for  the  service 
of  the  community  of  which  he  is  a  member.*  Self-govern- 
ment exists  to  a  degree  never  before  known ;  and  increasing 
wealth  and  population,  the  results  of  peace,  give  strength  to 
the  nation  among  the  community  of  nations.  The  largest 
producers  of  the  world,  they  are  the  largest  consumers,  and 
their  trade  is  valuable :  a  fact  which  is  due  to  the  use  of  spades 
and  ploughs  in  preference  to  that  of  swords  and  pistols. 
Without  fleets  and  armies,  they  exercise  a  self-defensive 
power  unknown  to  nations  who  employ  important  portions 

*  «  If  he  be  a  subject  in  all  that  concerns  the  mutual  relations  of  citizens, 
he  is  free  and  responsible  to  God  alone  for  all  that  concerns  himself.  Hence 
arises  the  maxim  that  every  one  is  the  best  and  sole  judge  of  his  own  pri- 
vate interest,  and  that  society  has  no  right  to  control  a  man's  actions,  unless 
they  are  prejudicial  to  the  common  weal,  or  unless  the  common  weal  demands 
his  co-operation.  This  doctrine  is  universally  admitted  in  the  United  States." 
— De  Tocqueville. 


224  MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW    MAN. 

of  their  people  in  carrying  muskets  and  burning  powder,  and 
require  from  other  portions  heavy  contributions  for  their  sup- 
port while  thus  employed.  France  employs  thousands  of 
labourers  in  fortifying  Paris,  while  New  York,  at  one- 
tenth  of  the  cost,  and  in  little  more  time,  places  twelve 
hundred  thousand  volumes  in  her  district-school  libraries. 
France  expends  hundreds  of  millions  and  wastes  a  hundred 
thousand  lives,  in  subjugating  Algeria,  while  the  people  of 
the  Union,  at  one-fifth  of  the  cost  and  without  the  loss  of  a 
life,  cover  their  vast  territory  with  a  network  of  railroads. 
The  one  acquires  strength  that  enables  her  quietly  to  settle, 
with  honour  to  herself,  every  question  in  which  she  feels  an 
interest,  and  to  defend  every  right :  while  the  other  tyran- 
nizes over  the  weaker  powers  in  her  neighbourhood,  and  is 
set  at  defiance  by  those  which  are  stronger.  Restless  weak- 
ness characterizes  the  one  :  and  quiet  strength  the  other. 

In  no  portion  of  the  population  of  the  Union  are  the  beau- 
tiful effects  of  peace  and  rapidly  augmenting  wealth  better  il- 
lustrated than  in  the  comparative  progress  and  condition  of 
their  negro  population  and  that  of  the  West  Indies.  Imported 
into  the  latter,  and  there  involved  in  ruinous  wars,  retarding 
the  growth  of  wealth  :  we  find  that  race  at  the  date  of  eman- 
cipation, a  few  years  since,  numbering  fewer  souls  than  had 
been  imported.  If  we  desire  to  trace  the  cause  of  this,  we 
must  look  to  those  countries  in  which  population  tends  down- 
wards, and  there  we  shall  find  the  labourer  badly  fed  :  badly 
clothed  :  and  over- worked  :  while  his  children  perish  of  famine 
and  disease.  That  such  was  there  the  case  is  obvious  from 
the  fact  that  from  the  date  at  which  importation  ceased,  their 
number  steadily  declined,  and  was  far  less  on  the  day  of 
emancipation  than  it  had  been  twenty  years  before. 

In  1817,  the  slaves  of  Jamaica  numbered  346,000.  In 
1829  they  were  reduced  to  302,000,  although  the  manumis- 
sions had  been  only  4000.  What  was  the  number  emanci- 
pated, we  do  not  know,  but  it  was  probably  considerably  less 
than  in  1829.  In  the  same  period  of  twenty  years,  in  the 
United  States,  their  number  would  have  increased  to  about 


MAN    AND    HIS   FELLOW   MAN.  225 

600,000.  In  Jamaica,  labour  was  rendered  unproductive  by 
wars,  restrictions,  heavy  taxation,  and  interferences  with  the 
right  of  property.  The  value  of  the  labourer  was  reduced, 
and  his  owner  had  no  interest  in  improving  his  condition : 
the  consequence  of  which  is  seen  in  the  total  absence  of  in- 
crease of  numbers.  More  slaves  were  imported  into  this  one 
island  than  into  the  whole  American  Union.  The  one  now 
presents  to  the  world  a  very  poor  population  of  300,000  re- 
cently redeemed  from  slavery :  the  other  one  of  more  than 
3,000,000,  rapidly  redeeming  themselves.  . 

In  the  United  States,  on  the  contrary,  wealth  has  grown 
rapidly,  and  the  demand  for  labourers  has  consequently  been 
great.     The  return  to  labour  has  been  large,  and  the  labourer, 
white  or  black,  has  had  his  share.     Well  fed,  well  clothed, 
and  well  housed,  because  valuable  to  his  owner,  the  three  or 
four  hundred  thousand  barbarians  have  grown  to  millions  of 
comparatively  civilized  men.     Still  slaves,  and  liable  to  be 
sold,  they  are  yet  exempt  from  the  dangers  of  conscription, 
which,  to  the  separation  from  parents,  wives,  or  children, 
might  add  exposure  to  the  dangers  of  war  :  to  perish  among 
the  snows  of  Russia,  or  the  sands  of  Africa  ;  or  to  return  with 
the  habits  of  the  camp,  and  unfit  to  resume  the  peaceful  du- 
ties of  civilized  life.       Still  slaves,  they  are  exempt  from  the 
dangers  of  being  impressed  and  dragged  from  their  families 
to  spend  long  years  upon  the  ocean,  engaged  in  the  work  of 
plunder  and  of  murder,  to  return  perhaps  with  the  loss  of  a  leg 
r  an  arm  :  and  to  find  that  their  wives  have  died  in  the  alms- 
house,  and  their  daughters  have  been  driven  to  seek  by  pros- 
titution the  means  of  a  wretched  subsistence.     They  are  still 
slaves,  yet  they  have    before  them   no  dread  of  invading 
armies,  resembling  those  which  have  carried  rape,  murder, 
plunder  and  desolation  throughout  Spain,  Germany,  Italy, 
Holland,  the  Netherlands  and  France.     They  are  still  slaves, 
but  their  labour  is  valuable  because  aided  by  the  machinery 
of  rapidly  growing  wealth  :  and  their  masters,  unlike  those 
of  the  unhappy  people  of  Ireland,  would  feel  it  a  serious 
2  F 


226  MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW    MAN. 

sacrifice  were  they  compelled  to  ship  them  off,  stowed 
almost  in  bulk,  on  board  of  ill-found  and  ill-provisioned 
barques  and  brigs  ;  to  have  the  horrors  of  the  middle  passage 
repeated  in  these  enlightened  days.  They  are  still  slaves, 
yet  their  masters  feel  that  they  consult  their  own  interests  in 
feeding,  clothing,  and  lodging  them  well,  because  wealth  in- 
creases more  rapidly  than  population,  and  their  labour  be- 
comes daily  more  valuable.  Still  slaves,  and  liable  to  be- 
sold,  they  consume  a  larger  proportion  of  the  proceeds  of 
their  labour  than  falls  to  the  lot  of  half  the  people  of  Europe 
who  claim  to  be  considered  free  ;  and  they  are  daily  improv- 
ing in  their  physical,  moral  and  intellectual  condition,  pre- 
paratory to  becoming :  as  they  wtfl  at  no  very  distant  day, 
and  that  without  violence,  free  citizens  and  proprietors  of  the 
States  they  inhabit:  the  few  miserable  barbarians  having 
become  a  numerous,  happy  and  civilized  people,  because  of 
the  maintenance  of  peace  and  consequent  growth  of  wealth : 
and  ready  then  to  unite  with  their  white  fellow- citizens  in 
the  great  enterprise  of  carrying  civilization  into  the  heart  of 
Africa,  and  thus  perfecting  the  work  already  so  well  begun. 
In  no  other  country  has  the  race  increased  its  numbers,  because 
in  no  other  have  wealth  and  the  demand  for  labour,  and 
the  price  of  labour,  increased  so  rapidly.  In  few,  if  in- 
deed in  any,  of  the  countries  of  continental  Europe,  have 
the  mass  of  the  people  exercised  the  rights  of  self-govern- 
ment in  regard  to  the  application  of  their  time,  their  labour, 
and  its  proceeds,  in  as  great  a  degree  as  have  the  negroes  of 
the  southern  states :  although  still  slaves,  and  liable  to  be 
sold.  Had  it  been  otherwise  :  had  they  furnished  as  many 
soldiers,  and  endured  as  much  suffering  as  the  people  of 
France,  Italy,  Spain  and  Germany:  their  numbers  would 
have  remained  as  nearly  stationary.  Wherever  wealth  and 
population  have  been  permitted  to  increase,  freedom  has  in- 
variably followed  in  their  train :  and  evidence  that  such  will 
be  the  case  may  be  found  in  the  anxiety  of  so  many  of  the 
owners  of  slaves  in  relation  to  every  measure,  originating  even 


MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW   MAN.  227 

among  themselves,  tending  in  that  direction.  That  slavery 
yet  endures  is  due  to  the  fact  that  concentration  is  diffi- 
cult, because  of  the  constant  error  of  the  English  policy, 
which  forces  men  to  scatter  themselves  over  the  thin  soils 
of  new  states,  while  leaving  untouched  the  rich  soils  of  older 
ones.  With  concentration  labour  will  increase  in  value,  and 
land  will  become  divided,  and  will  be  found  far  more  valuable 
when  well  cultivated  by  free  blacks,  working  for  themselves 
and  bringing  into  activity  the  better  soils,  than  are  now  the 
lands  and  the  slaves  who  scratch  the  superficial  soil,  while 
leaving  untouched  those  more  valuable  which  lie  beneath. 
Slavery  is  one  of  man's  weak  "  inventions,"  and  it  cannot 
endure  in  a  country  that  enjoys  the  blessings  of  peace,  of 
light  taxation,  and  general  freedom  of  action. 

M.  de  Tocqueville  saw  the  tendency  to  self-government, 
but  he  feared  it.  He  did  so,  because  he  had  not  studied  the 
causes  of  its  rise,  or  the  phenomena  which  mark  its  exist- 
ence, and  promote  its  extension.  He  speaks  uniformly  of 
France  and  the  United  States  as  the  democratic  states.  His 
test  of  democracy  is  the  division  of  land,  not  that  of  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  right  of  self-government.  In  France,  division 
is  compulsory.  The  people  are  poor,  and  the  little  farm  of 
ten  acres  which  has  given  a  miserable  support  to  one  family, 
is  divided  into  two,  three,  or  five,  by  the  sons :  and  each  mort- 
gages his  share  to  obtain  the  assistance  required  to  enable 
him  to  support  a  miserable  existence.  Land,  there,  still  go- 
verns the  man.  In  the  United  States,  the  system  consists  in 
letting  every  man  judge  for  himself  to  whom  he  will  leave 
his  property :  but  if  he  leave  behind  him  no  directions,  the 
law  supplies  his  place,  and  says  that  all  children  have  equal 
rights.  In  the  one  case,  self-government  is  complete.  In 
the  other,  it  is  nowhere  seen. 

The  habit  of  voluntary  association  is  the  essential  charac- 
teristic of  self-government.  Without  that,  it  can  have  no  ex- 
istence. In  the  United  States,  the  type  of  the  whole  svstem 


228  MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW    MAN. 

is  found  in  "  the  bee  :"  the  union  of  the  old  settlers  to  put  up 
a  log-house  for  the  newly  arrived  family.  Starting  from  that 
point,  it  may  be  found  in  every  operation  of  life.  The  logs 
are  to  be  rolled :  the  roof  of  the  barn  is  to  be  raised :  or  the 
corn  is  to  be  husked.  Forthwith,  all  assemble,  and  the  work 
which  to  the  solitary  labourer  would  have  been  severe,  and 
often  impossible,  is  made  "  a  frolic"1'  of,  and  an  hour  or  two 
of  combined  exertion  accomplishes  what  otherwise  might 
have  required  weeks,  or  months.  Does  the  new  settler  want 
a  horse,  or  a  plough,  or  both  ?  One  neighbour  lends  him  the 
first,  and  another  the  last,  and  he  soon  obtains  a  horse  and 
plough  for  himself:  whereas,  without  such  aid  he  might  have 
toiled  in  poverty  for  years.  A  place  of  worship  is  needed, 
and  all,  Methodists,  Episcopalians,  Baptists  and  Presbyte- 
rians, unite  to  build  it ;  its  pulpit  to  be  occupied  by  the  itine- 
rant preachers  of  the  wilderness.  The  church  brings  peo- 
ple to  the  neighbourhood,  and  promotes  the  habit  of  asso- 
ciation, while  the  lesson  taught  therein  promotes  the  love  of 
order :  and  in  a  little  time  the  settlement  is  dotted  over  with 
meeting-houses,  at  one  of  which  Baptists,  and  at  another 
Presbyterians  meet  each  other,  to  listen  to  the  man  whom  as 
their  teacher  they  have  united  to  select.  Is  one  of  these 
houses  burnt,  the  congregation  find  all  others  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood placed  at  their  command  until  the  loss  can  be  re- 
paired. Next,  we  find  them  associating  for  the  making  of 
roads,  and  holding  meetings  to  determine  who  shall  superin- 
tend their  construction  and  repair,  and  who  assess  the  con- 
tributions required  for  the  purpose.  Again,  we  find  them 
meeting  to  determine  who  shall  represent  them  at  the  meet- 
ing of  the  county  board,  or  in  the  Assembly  of  the  State',  or  in 
the  Congress  of  the  Union.  Again,  to  settle  where  the  new 
school-house  shall  be  built :  and  to  determine  who  shall  collect 
the  funds  necessary  for  the  purpose,  and  select  the  books  for 
the  little  library  that  is  to  enable  their  children  to  apply  with 
advantage  to  themselves  the  knowledge  of  letters  acquired 


MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW    MAN.  .     229 

from  the  teacher.*  Again,  they  are  seen  forming  associa- 
tions for  mutual  insurance  against  horse-thieves  or  fire  ;  or  little 
savings'  funds,  called  banks,  at  which  the  man  who  wishes  to 
buy  a  horse  or  a  plough  can  borrow  the  means  necessary  for 
the  purpose.  Little  mills  grow  up,  the  property  of  one  or 
two,  and  expand  into  large  ones,  in  which  all  the  little  capi- 
talists of  the  neighbourhood,  shoemakers  and  sempstresses, 
farmers  and  lawyers,  widows  and  orphans,  are  interested : 
little  towns,  in  which  every  resident  owns  his  own  house  and 
lot,  and  is  therefore  directly  interested  in  their  good  manage- 
ment, and  in  all  matters  tending  to  their  advancement ;  and 
each  feels  that  the  first  and  greatest  of  those  things  is  perfect  se- 
curity of  person  and  property.  The  habit  of  association  is  seen 
exercising  the  most  beneficial  influence  in  every  action  of 
life,  and  it  is  most  seen  where  population  and  wealth  most 
abound :  in  the  states  of  New  England.  There,  we  see  a 
network  of  association  so  far  exceeding  what  is  elsewhere 
to  be  seen  as  to  defy  comparison.  The  shipwright,  and  the 
merchant,  and  the  more  advanced  and  less  active  capitalist, 
unite  with  the  master  in  the  ownership  of  the  vessel :  and  all 
unite  with  the  crew  in  the  division  of  the  oil  which  is  the  re- 
sult of  the  cruise.  The  great  merchant,  the  little  capitalist, 

*  "It  is  not  impossible  to  conceive  the  surpassing  liberty  which  the  Ameri- 
cans enjoy;  some  idea  may  likewise  be  formed  of  the  extreme  equality  that 
subsists  among  them ;  but  the  political  activity  which  pervades  the  United 
States  must  be  seen  in  order  to  be  understood.  No  sooner  do  you  set  foot 
on  the  American  soil,  than  you  are  stunned  by  a  kind  of  tumult;  a  confused 
clamour  is  heard  on  every  side ;  and  a  thousand  simultaneous  voices  demand 
the  immediate  satisfaction  of  their  social  wants.  Every  thing  is  in  motion 
around  you  ;  here,  the  people  of  one  quarter  of  a  town  are  met  to  decide  upon 
the  building  of  a  church;  there,  the  election  of  a  representative  is  going  on; 
a  little  further,  the  delegates  of  a  district  are  posting  to  the  town  in  order  to 
consult  upon  some  local  improvements;  or  in  another  place  the  labourers  of 
a  village  quit  their  ploughs  to  deliberate  upon  the  project  of  a  road  or  a  pub- 
lic school.  Meetings  are  called  for  the  sole  purpose  of  declaring  their  disap- 
probation of  the  line  of  conduct  pursued  by  the  government;  whilst  in  other 
assemblies  the  citizens  salute  the  authorities  of  the  day  as  the  fathers  of  their 
country.  Societies  are  formed  which  regard  drunkenness  as  the  principal 
cause  of  the  evils  under  which  the  state  labours,  and  which  solemnly  bind 
themselves  to  give  a  constant  example  of  temperance." — De  Tocqueville. 

20 


230  MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW    MAN. 

the  skilful  manufacturer,  the  foundry-master,  the  engineer, 
the  workman,  and  the  girl  who  tends  the  loom,  unite  in  the 
ownership  of  the  immense  mill :  and  millions  of  yards  of 
cloth  are  furnished  to  the  world  by  this  combined  effort  on 
the  part  of  individuals  who,  if  they  worked  alone,  could  not 
have  supplied  thousands.  The  property-holder  of  the  city, 
and  the  little  capitalists,  are  everywhere  seen  combining  their 
exertions  for  the  construction  of  roads  and  the  building  of 
steamboats,  by  the  use  of  which  the  habit  of  union  is  in- 
creased. In  every  relation  of  life,  the  same  tendency  to  com- 
bination of  action  is  seen  to  exist.  Everywhere,  man  is  seen 
helping,  and  governing  himself.*  That  he  may  do  this  effec- 
tually, wealth  is  necessary :  for  men  cannot  live  near  each 
other  while  forced  to  cultivate  the  worst  soils.  Wealth  thus 
produces  union,  which  is  seen  most  to  exist  where  wealth  most 
exists  :  more  in  the  east  than  in  the  west,  and  more  in  the  north 
than  in  the  south.  Union  in  turn  produces  wealth,  which 
grows  more  rapidly  in  the  north  and  east  than  in  the  west 
and  south :  and  thus  wealth,  combined  action,  and  power  of 
self-government,  with  a  constant  increase  in  the  respect  for 
laws  which  they  themselves  have  made:  manifested  alike  by  in- 
dividuals and  by  States  whose  population  counts  by  millions  :f 

*  "  The  citizen  of  the  United  States  is  taught  from  his  earliest  infancy  to 
rely  upon  his  own  exertions,  in  order  to  resist  the  evils  and  the  difficulties  of 
life  ;  he  looks  upon  the  social  authority  with  an  eye  of  mistrust  and  anxiety, 
and  he  only  claims  its  assistance  when  he  is  quite  unable  to  do  without  it." — 
De  Torqueville. 

«  The  small  number  of  custom-house  officers  employed  in  the  United  States, 
compared  with  the  extent  of  the  coast,  renders  smuggling  very  easy  ;  notwith- 
standing it  is  less  practised  than  elsewhere,  because  everybody  endeavours  to 
repress  it.  In  America,  there  is  no  police  for  the  prevention  of  fires,  and  such 
accidents  are  more  numerous  than  in  Europe;  but  in  general  they  are  more 
speedily  extinguished,  because  the  surrounding  population  is  prompt  in  ren- 
dering assistance." — Ibid. 

f  «  When  the  clerk  of  the  court  advances  on  the  steps  of  the  tribunal,  and 
simply  says :  « The  state  of  New  York  versus  the  state  of  Ohio,'  it  is  impos- 
sible not  to  feel  that  the  court  which  he  addresses  is  no  ordinary  body ;  and 
when  he  recollects  that  one  of  these  parties  represents  a  million,  and  the  other 
two  millions  of  men,  one  is  struck  by  the  responsibility  of  the  seven  judges 
whose  decision  is  about  to  satisfy  or  disappoint  so  large  a  number  of  their  fel- 
low citizens." — De  Torqueville. 


MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW   MAN.  231 

and  corresponding  increase  in  the  return  to  labour,  are  seen 
constantly  advancing ;  each  helping  and  helped  by  the  other. 
Such  is  democracy,  but  of  all  this  what  exists  in  France  ? 
Nothing !  The  habit  of  voluntary  association  has  no  exist- 
ence, except  for  revolutionary  purposes.*  No  meeting  can 
be  held  without  the  sanction  of  government.  No  church  or 
school-house  can  be  built  without  that  sanction.  The  go- 
vernment pays  the  clergy  and  the  teachers.  It  builds  the 
roads  and  bridges,  and  it  makes  libraries:  supports  theatres: 
sells  tobacco  and  salt  at  its  own  shops:  grants  or  refuses  per- 
mission to  the  labourer  to  stay  or  to  quit  the  Capital:  dictates 
the  terms  upon  which  he  may  offer  to  sell  his  labour :  regu- 
lates elections :  fixes  the  amount  of  contributions  to  be  spent 
in  making  wars,  in  building  hospitals  for  the  wounded,  or  in 
pensions  to  men  who  have  produced  the  necessity  for  these 
wars :  prohibits  all  meetings  for  the  discussion  of  its  mea- 
sures: interdicts  such  discussions  in  the  newspapers :f  opens 
private  letters  :f  and  finally  surrounds  the  capital  with  cannon 
sufficient  to  lay  it  in  ruins,  if  the  people  should  talk  too 
loudly.  The  democracy  of  France  and  that  of  her  old  ally 
against  the  Christians,  of  Italy,  and  Germany,  and  Spain,  are  of 
the  same  character.  Turkey  has  been  ruled  by  pashas,  who, 
after  being  allowed  to  gorge  themselves,  have  been  squeezed 
by  the  government.  France  has  always  been,  and  is,  ruled 
by  farmers-general  with  various  titles :  always  squeezing 
the  people,  and  sometimes  squeezed.  The  reader  who 

*  "In  America,  public  opinion  acts  by  elections  and  decrees;  in  France,  it 
proceeds  by  revolutions." — De  Tocquevitlc.  "  In  countries  where  associations 
are  free,  secret  societies  are  unknown.  In  America  there  are  numerous  fac- 
tions, but  no  conspiracies." — Ibid. 

•j-  Six  journals  have  just  been  seized  for  exposing  government  abuses,  viz.: 
the  Democratic  Pacifique,  the  Estafette,  the  Gazette  de  France,  the  Union 
Monarchique,  the  Charivari,  and  the  Reforme. 

t  A  secret  department  exists  in  the  French  post-office,  in  which  suspected 
letters  are  broken  open  and  read,  by  order  of  the  government.  An  employee 
who  officiated  in  this  department  before  the  revolution  of  1830  is  now  [1847] 
reinstated,  at  a  salary  of  ten  thousand  francs  per  annum.  This,  it  is  alleged, 
affords  a  clue  to  the  extensive  robberies  of  the  mail.  Charges  of  corruption 
are  made  against  thirty  or  forty  officers  of  government. 


232  MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW    MAN. 

would  desire  to  see  the  type  of  the  administration  of  France, 
should  study  the  history  of  Fouquet.  Solidarite :  unlimited 
liability :  is  there  the  rule.  Exemptions,  therefore,  by  per- 
sons desiring  to  exercise  the  right  to  associate,  are  ob- 
tained with  difficulty  so  great  that  to  do  so  may  be  deemed 
almost  impossible ;  and  hence  the  absence  of  the  habit  of 
association  which  exists  always  in  the  ratio  of  the  growth 
of  wealth  and  population.  Self-government  is  there  un- 
known.* 

In  England  the  habit  of  association  has  always,  to  a  great 
extent,  existed.  It  may  be  seen  developing  itself  with  every 
step  in  the  growth  of  population  and  wealth  ;  and  now  with 
greater  rapidity  than  ever,  as  witness  the  union  of  effort  for 
the  construction  of  her  system  of  railroads.  It  has  been,  and 
is,  however,  restrained  by  an  infinity  of  regulations  and  lia- 
bilities, relics  of  a  barbarian  age,  tending  to  produce  mono- 
poly of  power  in  the  hands  of  individuals :  great  agriculturists : 
great  bankers:  great  merchants:  great  manufacturers :  and 
great  politicians :  always  the  cause  of  great  disturbance 
among  the  little  people  by  whom  they  are  surrounded.  Hence 
the  frequent  combinations  of  workmen,  and  the  ruinous 
«  strikes,"  by  which  trade  is  interrupted  for  weeks,  and  the 
progress  of  wealth  is  impeded.  Hence  the  incendiarism,  ma- 
chine breakings,  assassinations,  vitriol  throwing,  and  other 
acts  of  outrage  of  so  frequent  occurrence.!  Hence,  too,  the 
tremendous  contests  in  past  times  for  seats  in  parliament : 
hence  the  wars,  the 'large  armies  and  fleets:  and  hence  the 


*  "  It  is  evident  that  a  central  government  acquires  immense  power  when 
united  to  administrative  centralization.  Thus  combined,  it  accustoms  men  to 
set  their  own  will  habitually  and  completely  aside ;  to  submit  not  only  for 
once  or  upon  one  point,  but  in  every  respect  and  at  all  times." — De  Torqueville. 

•f"  "  Incendiarism,  machine  breakings,  assassination,  vitriol  throwing,  acts  of 
diabolical  outrage,  all  have  been  perpetrated  for  intimidation  or  revenge." — 
Gaskill,  Artisans  and  Machinery. 

"  An  engineer,  who  has  contributed  largely  to  benefit  society  by  his  inven- 
tions, tells  the  writer  of  this  book  that  he  has  completed  several  machines  which 
he  considers  of  general  utility,  but  which  he  dares  not  bring  forward  in  the  pre- 
sent state  of  the  popular  mind." — Results  of  Machinery. 


MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW   MAN.  233 

necessity  for  penal  colonies,  appropriately  designated  «  hells 
upon  earth!"  like  Norfolk  Island.  The  tendency  to  self- 
government  has  there  existed  in  a  degree  unknown  to 
any  other  part  of  Europe ;  for  there  wealth  and  population 
have  grown  with  some  rapidity,  and  there  men  have  been 
most  enabled  to  associate.  It  grows  now  more  rapidly  than 
ever,  because  of  the  great  increase  in  the  facility  of  commu- 
nication and  intercourse :  and  the  result  is  increased  harmony. 
Men  can  now  differ  in  opinion  without  fighting.  They  begin 
now  to  recognise  the  right  of  their  neighbours  to  worship  God 
after  their  own  fashion :  and  to  vote  for  protection,  or  free 
trade,  as  they  please,  without  being  mobbed  or  stoned ;  as 
has  been  shown  in  the  late  election :  a  great  triumph  of  the 
principle  of  self-government.  The  hustings  of  London  and 
Manchester,  and  of  England  generally,  have  been  almost  as 
quiet  as  the  election  grounds  of  the  United  States  have  always 
been.  The  voters  felt  that  they  had  rights  to  defend,  and 
duties  to  perform :  not  masters  to  serve.  In  many  places 
they  went  to  the  work  seriously  and  gravely,  like  the  Puritans 
of  old ;  and  such  men  do  not  need  to  fight  at  elections.  The 
more  earnestness,  the  more  quiet,  the  more  union,  and  the 
more  strength. 

The  events  of  the  last  thirty  years  of  peace  contrast  most 
forcibly  with  those  of  the  previous  twenty  years  of  war,  waste, 
and  ruin.  During  the  whole  of  that  period,  land  was  strength- 
ening itself  against  man.  Properties  were  enlarged,  and  pro- 
perty-owners became  too  great  to  look  after  their  own  affairs. 
Little  farmers  were  expelled,  to  make  way  for  great  ones. 
The  little  ones  went  to  the  poor-house,  and  the  great  ones 
were  ruined  by  making  improvements  on  short  leases ; 
although,  during  the  whole  time,  land  was  making  laws  to 
limit  the  supply  of  food,  and  keep  up  rents.  The  power  of 
the  people  over  their  own  actions  rapidly  diminished  during 
the  war,  and  its  close  found  the  mass  of  them  reduced  to 
pauperism,  and  subject  to  all  the  insolence  of  little  tyrants 
directly  or  indirectly  representing  the  land.  Such  were  the 
2G  20* 


234  MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW    MAN. 

results  of  a  diminution  in  the  proportion  of  wealth  to  popu- 
lation. The  results  of  an  increase  in  that  proportion  we  are 
now  witnessing. 

The  effect  of  a  long  period  of  peace  in  promoting  the 
growth  of  wealth  arid  freedom  was  first  exhibited  in  Prussia, 
in  the  removal  of  all  impediments  to  the  free  disposal  of  land 
by  sale,  gift,  or  will.  Next,  we  find  the  emancipation,  with 
compensation  to  the  lord,  of  the  small  free  proprietor :  the 
tenant  in  perpetuity :  previously  subject  to  the  most  barbarous 
and  absurd  regulations.  Again,  we  meet  with  the  associations 
of  land-owners,  large  and  small,  for  the  institution  of  provin- 
cial mortgage  banks,  whose  operations  have  since  grown  to 
a  vast  amount,  and  have  increased  the  power  of  cultivating 
the  deeper  and  better  soils,  which  before  could  not  be  reached 
because  of  the  inferiority  of  the  machinery  in  use.  Labour 
has  become  more  productive,  and  population  and  wealth 
have  grown  with  great  rapidity  ;  and  with  them,  the  habit  of 
peace  and  the  tendency  to  union  :  and  the  ability  to  demand 
control  over  the  power  of  taxation,  and  the  administration 
of  the  public  affairs.  Hence  the  new  constitution :  an  im- 
portant step  towards  self-government. 

In  her  exterior  relations  Prussia  has  afforded  signal  evi- 
dence of  the  tendency  of  growing  wealth  and  population  to 
produce  peace,  in  the  establishment  of  the  great  Commercial 
League  of  Northern  Germany.  France  has  always  made 
deserts  between  her  and  her  neighbours  :  in  the  Palatinate  : 
in  the  Netherlands :  in  Piedmont  and  Savoy :  and  in  Cata- 
lonia. Her  policy  has  been  that  of  glory  and  isolation :  and 
such  is  it  now.  Prussia,  on  the  contrary,  labours  to  convert 
deserts  into  farms,  intersected  by  railroads.  The  one  ad- 
vances rapidly.  The  other  scarcely  at  all.  England  is  now 
pursuing,  in  that  respect,  the  policy  of  Prussia.  Self-govern- 
ment and  the  disposition  to  union  with  her  colonies  on  terms 
of  equality,  and  with  foreign  nations,  are  growing  by  degrees  ; 
yet  impeded  everywhere  by  monopolies  of  land  and  capital, 
oroducing  unsteadiness,  and  exercising  a  strong  repulsive 


MAN    AND   HIS    FELLOW    MAN.  235 

power.  She  repeals  her  corn-laws,  but  other  nations  cling 
more  closely  to  their  tariffs ;  feeling  that  the  union  between 
the  producer  and  consumer  at  home  is  more  profitable  than 
union  with  nations  abroad,  and  disunion  at  home.  The 
United  States,  however,  advance  most  rapidly  in  wealth  and 
population :  and  their  tendency  to  union  is  proportionably 
great.  State  after  State  has  been  added  to  the  Union, 
silently :  but  it  was  reserved  for  Texas  to  prove  the  extraor- 
dinary attractive  power  of  superior  wealth.  That  State  was 
settled  chiefly  by  men  who  had  opposed  the  protective 
policy ;  and  among  the  leaders  were  found  some  of  those  who 
had  most  warmly  advocated  the  Nullification  Law  of  1832. 
Ten  years  later,  the  tariff  of  1842,  held  by  them  to  be  equally 
objectionable,  was  passed.  Texas  had  then  established  herself 
as  an  independent  power,  recognised  by  the  principal  powers 
of  the  earth :  yet  she  gladly  sunk  that  independence,  and 
became  a  State  of  the  Union,  adding  another  star  to  its  flag. 
Had  war  been  the  policy  of  the  people,  they  would  have  re- 
mained poor ;  and  Texas  would  still  be  a  wilderness  :  or,  if  a 
State,  she  would  have  remained  an  independent  one.  Again,  if 
we  desire  to  see  the  effect  of  self-government  in  producing  ha- 
bits of  order  and  union,  we  may  turn  to  the  settlers  of  Oregon  ; 
and  see  them  quietly  forming  a  constitution  for  themselves, 
electing  township  and  county  officers,  members  of  the  little 
legislature,  and  governor.  The  whole  machinery  of  govern- 
ment is  there,  self-existent.  The  people  knew  what  they 
wanted,  and  they  made  it.  They  wanted  no  essays  on  go- 
vernment :  no  great  men  to  teach  them.  At  home  they  had 
practised  respect  for  the  rights  of  others:  and  when  abroad 
they  proved  that  they  had  not  forgotten  the  lesson. 

According  to  several  eminent  writers,  there  exist  various 
races  of  men :  and  some  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  writers 
of  our  time  have  been  disposed  to  attribute  to  the  antipathy 
of  those  races  many  of  the  phenomena  to  which  we  have 
referred.  A  more  careful  study  of  history  might,  however, 
as  we  think,  satisfy  them  that  although  men  are  of  various 


236  MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW    MAN. 

colours,  white,  red,  brown,  and  black,  there  have  existed 
from  the  creation  to  the  present  time  but  two  races,  to  wit, 
the  great  race  and  the  small  one :  the  race  of  the  few  and 
that  of  the  many :  the  race  that  lives  by  the  labour  of  others, 
and  that  which  lives  by  their  own  :  the  race  of  the  plunderers 
and  that  of  the  plundered.* 

When  population  is  small,  and  poor  men  cultivate  poor 
soils,  the  great  race  abounds ;  but  as  wealth  and  population 
increase,  and  rich  men  cultivate  rich  soils,  the  great  race 
becomes  rare.  Parmi  les  aveugles,  les  borgnes  sont  rois : 
and  this  is  equally  true  whether  we  consider  man  physically, 
morally,  intellectually,  or  politically. 

Throughout  Africa,  kings  and  ministers  abound,  and  kings 
and  ministers  make  razzias,  carrying  off  and  selling  for  slaves 
the  inoffensive  subjects  of  their  neighbour  kings  :  first  perhaps 
mutilating  them  that  they  may  better  serve  the  purposes  of 
their  masters.  Throughout  Asia,  the  great  race  is  numerous. 
Kings  and  kings'  sons,  ministers  and  their  dependents,  ze- 
mindars and  other  officers,  down  to  the  mundils  and  potails 
of  villages,  plunder  the  poor  people  by  whom  they  are  sur- 
rounded :  each  to  be  plundered  in  turn  by  those  above.  In 
Mexico,  too,  the  great  race  is  numerous,  for  there  the  whole 
people  cultivate  the  poorest  soils.  Daily  revolutions  produce 
a  daily  supply  of  men  ready  to  manage  the  property  of 
others,  and  to  enrich  themselves  by  the  profits  of  manage- 
ment. Armies  are  mainly  composed  of  generals,  colonels, 
and  majors,  all  ready  to  give  orders,  but  none  ready  to 
obey. 

If  we  follow  the  history  of  Athens,  we  can  see  a  gradual 
increase  in  the  numbers  of  the  great  race,  until  the  whole 

*  «  The  human  species,  according  to  the  best  theory  I  can  form  of  it,  is 
composed  of  two  distinct  races,  the  men  who  borrow  and  the  men  who  lend. 
The  infinite  superiority  of  the  former,  which  I  choose  to  designate  as  the  great 
ract,  is  discernible  in  their  figure,  port,  and  a  certain  instinctive  sovereignty. 
The  latter  are  born  degraded.  « He  shall  serve  his  brethren.'  There  is  some- 
thing in  the  air  of  one  of  this  caste,  lean  and  suspicious,  contrasting  with  the 
open,  trusting,  generous  manners  of  the  other." — Lamb. 


MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW    MAN.  237 

people  became  masters  of  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  the  in- 
habitants of  a  thousand  subject  cities  ;  and  every  man  claimed 
to  be  fed,  and  clothed,  and  amused,  out  of  the  products  of 
their  labour.  Greatest  among  the  great,  we  find  Miltiades 
and  Cimon :  Pericles  and  Alcibiades :  followed  by  troops 
of  members  of  the  military  aristocracy,  all  hungry  for  their 
shares  of  the  spoils.  Athens  then  cultivated  the  poorest 
soils,  and  great  men  were  numerous  :  shining  conspicuously 
among  the  little  men  by  whom  they  were  surrounded.  In 
Italy,  when  towns  and  cities  were  filled  with  prosperous  in- 
habitants, and  men  cultivated  the  most  fertile  soils,  great 
men  were  rare ;  but  as  by  degrees  those  soils  were  aban- 
doned and  slaves  took  the  place  of  freemen,  the  great  race 
became  more  and  more  numerous  :  so  numerous  at  length 
that  it  became  necessary  to  diminish  their  number,  and 
hence  the  wars  and  proscriptions  of  Marius  and  Sylla  :  Pom- 
pey  and  CaBsar :  Anthony,  Octavius,  and  Lepidus.  With 
the  decline  of  the  empire,  we  may  see  the  great  race  steadily 
increasing,  until  at  length  the  number  of  those  who  lived  by 
the  labour  of  others  came  to  exceed  those  who  lived  by  their 
own.  With  the  gradual  revival  of  Italy,  we  may  see  in  the 
kingdom  of  Lombardy  a  thriving  people  with  few  great 
men  :  but  France  came,  and  desolation  marked  her  footsteps. 
The  fertile  soils  went  out  of  cultivation,  because  the  little 
race  were  employed  in  building  castles  for  their  masters. 
In  Florence,  when  wealth  and  population  grew  and  man 
cultivated  the  rich  soils,  great  men  were  rare.  Perpetual 
wars  brought  poverty  and  the  great  race  ;  until  at  length 
those  who  laboured  but  little  exceeded  in  number  those  who 
did  not.  In  France,  the  great  race  have  always  been 
numerous.  To  that  country  Europe  was  indebted  for  the 
Feudal  System  :  the  system  of  the  great  race.  Every  petty 
leader  had  his  castle,  and  all  were  at  all  times  ready  to  plun- 
der such  of  the  little  race  of  merchants  and  travellers  as 
came  within  their  grasp. 

Throughout  her  history,  that  race  so  abounds  that  it  is 


238  MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW    MAN. 

with  difficulty  we  can  distinguish  those  who  might  be  er ti- 
tled to  claim  pre-eminence.  Philip  the  Fair  distinguished 
himself  by  his  robberies  under  the  name  of  alterations  of 
the  coin :  but  John  and  various  of  the  names  of  Charles  and 
Philip  almost  equalled  him.  He  plundered  the  Jews  and  the 
Italians,  on  various  occasions  :  but  in  this  he  was  fully 
equalled  by  numerous  others.  He  burned  the  Templars  and 
confiscated  their  property:  but  Louis  XIV.  did  as  much  by 
the  Huguenots.  He  squeezed  the  people :  but  in  this  even  he 
was  excelled  by  Anjou,  Berri,  and  Burgundy,  who  farmed 
the  kingdom  during  the  minority  of  Charles  VI.  France 
has  been  at  all  times  the  land  of  great  men.  Princes, 
dukes,  marshals,  constables,  nobles,  and  gentlemen  finan- 
ciers, revenue  farmers,  and  tax-gatherers,  have  always 
abounded  :  the  consequence  of  which  has  been  that  a  very 
poor  people  has  always  cultivated,  as  they  still  continue  to 
cultivate,  the  worst  soils  of  the  kingdom. 

England  abounded  in  great  men  in  the  days  of  the  Conqueror 
and  his  immediate  successors,  and  they  were  surrounded  by 
little  men  who  cultivated  poor  soils.  With  time,  great  men 
became  more  rare,  and  the  little  men  became  greater.  The 
wars  of  the  Roses  produced  "  the  Last  of  the  Barons,"  and 
many  other  great  men.  The  number  diminished  from  that 
period  to  that  of  the  great  rebellion,  when  the  few  became 
greater,  and  the  many  less :  and  so  it  continued  during  the 
rest  of  that  century.  From  that  time  the  number  diminished 
until  near  the  close  of  the  last  century,  when  commenced 
again  the  era  of  great  men  followed  by  troops  of  officials  : 
civil,  military  and  naval :  some  employed  in  impressing 
seamen,  and  others  in  commanding  ships  and  fleets  :  some 
engaged  in  crimping  soldiers,  and  others  in  leading  armies  : 
some  in  imposing  taxes  and  dividing  among  themselves  a 
large  share  of  the  proceeds,  and  others  in  collecting  excise 
duties  on  salt,  beer,  tobacco,  and  all  other  of  the  commodi- 
ties used  by  the  little  men  :  and  lastly,  another  large  b(  dy 
in  collecting  means  to  support  in  poor-houses  starving  la- 


MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW   MAN.  239 

bourers,  their  wives  and  mistresses,  their  children,  legitimate 
and  illegitimate.  The  few  became  greater  and  the  many 
less.  For  the  last  thirty  years,  the  great  have  been  becom- 
ing less  numerous,  and  less  great,  while  the  little  have  been 
becoming  greater;  but  England  still  abounds  in  great  men; 
railroad  kings,  who  dictate  what  roads  shall  be  made,  and  Low 
they  shall  be  made  :  bank  directors  who  make  money  plenty  or 
scarce,  at  their  pleasure  :  Ministers  who  grant  or  withhold 
millions  to  starving  Irishmen  :  East  India  directors  who 
support  armies  and  make  dividends  out  of  the  proceeds  of 
taxes  on  salt  and  other  necessaries  of  life  used  by  the  half- 
starved  labourers  of  India  :  private  bankers  who  fail  and 
make  no  dividend :  great  lawyers,  and  doctors,  and  mer- 
chants, and  manufacturers;  grooms  of  the  stole,  equerries, 
generals,  admirals,  colonels,  and  captains;  and  county  magis- 
trates intent  upon  enforcing  the  game  laws :  while  the  little 
people  who  labour  are  forced,  not  unfrequently,  to  content 
themselves  with  mud  hovels  and  eight  shillings  a  week:  filthy 
cellars  in  Liverpool  and  Manchester:  or  rags  and  nakedness 
in  coal  mines. 

The  United  States,  happily  for  themselves,  have  had  few 
great  men.  The  number  varies,  however,  as  we  pass  from 
old  Massachusetts  where  the  powers  of  the  earth  are  most 
fully  developed,  towards  Florida  and  Arkansas,  where  the 
richest  soils  are  still  covered  with  forests:  or  are  a  mass  of 
swamps.  The  good  ship  Mayflower  brought  with  her,  hap- 
pily, no  great  men,  and  no  little  men.  All  were  equal,  and 
all  willing  so  to  continue.  From  that  time  to  the  present, 
that  State,  and  those  of  New  England  generally,  have  had  no 
great  men  to  manage  their  affairs,  the  consequence  of  which 
is  that  they  require  little  or  no  management.*  They  have 
had  no  great  bankers,  but  banking  is  there  more  extensive 


*  "  All  the  domestic  controversies  of  the  Americans  at  first  appear  to  a 
stranger  to  be  so  incomprehensible  and  so  puerile,  that  he  is  at  a  loss  whe- 
ther to  pity  a  people  which  takes  such  arrant  trifles  in  good  earnest,  or  envy 
thai  happiness  which  enables  it  to  discuss  them." — De  Tocqueoille. 


240  MAN   AND    HIS   FELLOW    MAN. 

and  more  perfect  than  elsewhere  in  the  world  :  no  great 
merchants,  but  the  most  perfect  merchants  in  the  world :  no 
great  ship-owners,  but  the  best  ships  :  no  great  mechanics, 
but  the  most  perfect  machinery:  no  great  manufacturers,  yet 
they  send  their  products  to  the  British  possessions,  and  pay 
duty  while  those  of  Britain  are  free :  no  railroad  kings,  yet 
they  have  made  more  railroads  than  any  similar  number  of 
people  in  the  world  :  no  great  schools  or  teachers,  but  the 
best  schools  and  the  best  educated  people  in  the  world  :*  no 
army,  no  navy,  no  great  lawyers  or  conveyancers,  yet  in  no 
country  is  the  secure  enjoyment  of  the  rights  of  person  and 
property  so  complete.! 

As  we  pass  from  New  England,  south  and  west,  popu- 
lation and  wealth  diminish,  and  men  cultivate  poorer  soils : 
great  men  increase  in  number,  and  the  village  politician  be- 
comes more  distinguished  ;  while  the  little  become  less.  Ar- 
riving in  South  Carolina,  we  find  a  diminishing  population 
cultivating  worn-out  soils :  and  there  we  find  greater  men 
than  elsewhere  in  the  Union,  while  the  little  there  become 
least. 

The  wolf  is  great  amid  a  flock  of  sheep.     The  "  medi- 
cine man"  is  great  among  the  savages  of  the  Rocky  Moun 
tains.     The  Sultan  of  Delhi  is  great  among  his  poor  sub- 
jects.    Blackbeard  was  great    among   inoffensive   and    de- 
fenceless merchantmen.     Drake  was  great  among  the  poor 

*  "There  is  no  other  region  in  Anglo-Saxondom,  containing  750,000  souls, 
where  national  education  has  been  carried  so  far." — Lycll.  "In  no  subject 
do  the  Americans  display  more  earnestness  than  in  their  desire  to  improve 
their  system  of  education,  both  elementary  and  academical." — Ibid. 

j"  "  In  the  United  States,  the  democracy  perpetually  raises  fresh  individuals 
to  the  conduct  of  public  affairs,  and  the  measures  of  the  administration  are, 
consequently,  seldom  regulated  by  the  strict  rules  of  consistency  or  of  order. 
But  the  general  principles  of  the  government  are  more  stable,  and  the  opi- 
nions most  prevalent  in  society  are  more  durable  than  in  many  other  coun- 
tries. When  once  the  Americans  have  taken  up  an  idea,  whether  it  be  well 
or  ill  founded,  nothing  is  more  difficult  than  to  eradicate  it  from  their  minds. 
The  same  tenacity  of  opinion  has  been  observed  in  England,  where,  for  the 
last  century,  greater  freedom  of  conscience  and  more  invincible  prejudices 
have  existed,  than  in  all  the  other  countries  of  Europe." — De  Tocqueville. 


MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW    MAN.  241 

people  of  Carthagena.  Locke  and  Bacon  were  greater  than 
is  now  Herschel,  who  to  all  they  knew  adds  vast  treasures 
of  knowledge.  Saints  were  numerous  when  Christianity 
scarcely  had  an  existence,  and  when  the  test  of  orthodoxy 
consisted  in  the  belief  or  denial  of  the  doctrine  of  the  im- 
maculate conception.  Elizabeth,  to  her  parliament  and  her 
people,  was  a  greater  queen  than  is  now  the  occupant  of  the 
throne  ;  and  the  poor  Duke  of  Newcastle  was  a  far  greater 
man  than  is  the  existing  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.  Men 
are  thus  great,  or  little,  precisely  in  the  ratio  of  the  greatness 
or  littleness  of  those  by  whom  they  are  surrounded  :  and  the 
true  test  of  a  nation  is  to  be  found  not  in  the  size  of  their 
great,  but  in  that  of  their  little,  men.  Where  all  are  in- 
formed, distinction  in  letters  is  difficult.  Where  all  are  re- 
ligiously disposed,  few  can  claim  canonization.  Where  all 
exercise  power  over  themselves,  few  can  interfere  with  the 
happiness  or  property  of  others.  Complaints  are  made  of 
the  decline  of  science  in  England,  accompanied,  perhaps, 
with  reference  to  the  brighter  days  of  Newton,  Locke  and 
Bacon :  when  tens  of  thousands  possess  all  the  knowledge 
of  the  three  combined,  and  add  thereto  an  intimate  know- 
ledge of  sciences  whose  names  even  were  unknown,  and 
whose  exj^tence  was  unsuspected  in  those  "good  old  times." 

Greatness  and  goodness  rarely  travel  in  company,  for  where 
great  men  exist,  the  little  men  are  weak,  and  their  masters 
are  profligate.  Demosthenes  thundered  out  his  Philippics 
while  pocketing  the  bribes  of  Philip  :  Cicero  displayed  equal 
eloquence  in  defence  of  Crassus  and  in  the  impeachment  of 
Verres:  and  Mirabeau  was  by  turns  the  partisan  of  the 
Revolution  and  the  Throne. 

The  great  man  :  lord  of  the  little  man  who  cultivates  the 
poor  soils :  pays  himself  for  performing  the  duties  of  govern- 
ment, and  leaves  little  for  his  slave.  The  man  who  culti- 
vates the  rich  soils  pays  his  servants  for  attending  to  his 
affairs,  and  keeps  much  himself. 

Throughout  India,  the  great  man  revels  in  luxury,  while 
2H  21 


242  MAN    AND    HIS   FELLOW    MAN. 

the  little  man  perishes,  not  unfrequently,  of  famine.  The 
general  has  large  pay:  but  the  soldier,  who  executes  the 
orders,  receives  little,  and  must  pay  himself  by  plunder.  The 
high  officials  are  paid,  and  pay  themselves  in  addition.  The 
lower  ones  receive  little  pay,  and  they  too  pay  themselves. 
Such,  too,  is  the  case  in  Russia,  Spain,  Mexico,  Egypt,  and 
other  countries  in  which  the  poorest  soils  are  cultivated,  and 
where  men  are  least  free. 

In  France  too  such  has  been  the  universal  rule.  Kings, 
princes,  lords,  gentlemen,  bishops  and  archbishops,  farmers- 
general,  and  financiers  of  all  kinds,  paid  themselves.  Soldiers 
and  tax-collectors  received  little  pay,  but  paid  themselves  by 
living  on  the  people.  Such  is  still  the  case.  Those  who 
administer  the  government  take  openly  sixteen  hundred  mil- 
lions a  year  out  of  a  gross  product  of  seven  thousand  millions : 
and  with  this  palaces  are  maintained  :  galleries  established : 
fetes  and  entertainments  given :  soldiers  and  sailors,  and 
equipages,  and  wives,  and  mistresses  supported.  To  this  is  to 
be  added  the  prices,  privately  paid,  for  licenses  for  the  build- 
ing of  opera-houses,  and  for  concessions  of  railroads  and  pub- 
lic contracts  :  and  thus  all  pay  themselves.*  The  poor  subordi- 
nate receives  less  than  is  required  for  his  support,  and  he 
too  pays  himself.  The  wretched  conscript,  torn  from  his  family 
and  friends,  receives  five  dollars  a  year,  in  addition  to  poor 
clothing  and  little  food,  and  he  too  must  pay  himself,  f  The 
miserable  payer  of  taxes  continues  necessarily  to  cultivate  the 
worst  soils,  for  he  alone  cannot  pay  himself. 


*  The  proceedings  in  the  case  of  M.  Teste  throw  much  light  on  the  system. 

j-  The  pay  of  a  common  soldier  is  forty-eight  centimes,  [or  nine  cents]  per 
day.  From  this  pittance  ten  centimes  are  withheld  as  a  provision  for  the 
linen  arid  stockings  he  may  require,  and  for  the  small  articles  necessary  to  his 
dress  and  cleanliness;  thirty  centimes  are  withheld  for  his  food,  and  he  is  sup- 
plied with  one  pound  and  a  half  of  tolerable  bread  in  addition  ;  eight  centimes, 
(about  one  and  a  half  cents,)  are  given  to  him  for  pocket  money.  *  *  * 
The  soldier  has  two  meals  a  day.  *  *  *  The  first  is  composed  of  soup,  and 
a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  boiled  beef;  the  second  of  a  small  portion  of  vegetables, 
generally  of  potatoes  or  beans,  with  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  mutton  or  veal. 
The  only  drink  given  is  water. 


MAN    AND    HIS   FELLOW   MAN.  243 

In  England,  too,  great  men  pay  themselves  :  and  hence  the 
enormous  salaries  of  a  country  whose  production  is  less  than 
that  of  the  United  States.  Bishops  accumulate  vast  fortunes, 
and  chancellors  become  "leviathans  of  wealth."  Ministers 
and  ambassadors,  to  great  private  fortunes,  add  the  emolu- 
ments of  office,  varying  from  $30,000  to  $60,000  per 
annum.  Viceroys  and  governors-general  have  princely 
revenues,  and  chancellors'  sons  exist  on  salaries  of  $20,000 
a  year :  while  noble  clerks  sell  to  the  government  the  privi- 
lege of  suppressing  their  useless  offices,  for  pensions  vary- 
ing from  $6000  to  $10,000,  and  even  more.  Lords,  ladies, 
chancellors  and  judges,  whose  name  is  legion,  figure  on 
the  pension  list,  while  sinecures  abound.  Meanwhile, 
the  poor  subordinate,  who  does  the  work :  the  letter-sorter 
and  the  tide-waiter:  starve  upon  miserable  salaries:  and 
hence  the  dangers  that  attend  the  transmission  of  money  by 
the  post,*  and  hence,  too,  the  bribery  of  custom-house  offi- 
cers, and  the  frauds  upon  the  revenue.  With  the  thirty  years 
of  peace,  and  the  consequent  growth  of  wealth  and  population, 
some  change  has  been  effected,  and  the  great  are  somewhat 
less  paid,  while  the  subordinate  receives  somewhat  more:  but 
the  fact  that  land  still  pays  itself  is  made  obvious  on  all 
occasions. 

If  we  look  to  Attica,  we  may  trace  the  gradual  rise  of  this 
state  of  things  from  the  days  of  Solon  to  those  of  Pericles, 
who  involved  his  country  in  war  in  preference  to  producing 
his  accounts :  and  thence  to  Herodes  Atticus,  who  paid  him- 
self so  abundantly  as  to  incur  the  displeasure  of  a  master 
well  versed  in  the  payment  of  himself  and  friends.  So  in 
Rome,  as  cultivation  diminished,  we  may  trace  the  growth 
of  the  habit  of  self  payment  from  the  days  of  Cincinnatus, 


*  Colonel  Maberly,  the  deputy  postmaster-general,  stated  some  years  since 
that  the  losses  were  terrific.  In  the  United  States,  on  the  contrary,  with 
14,000  post-offices,  and  with  more  remittances  of  money  than  all  the  world  be- 
side, the  losses  are  so  trivial  as  to  be  estimated  at  only  the  two-hundredth  part 
of  one  per  cent 


244  MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW   MAN. 

who  tilled  his  own  little  farm,  to  those  of  Scipio  whose 
accounts  were  not  producible  :  to  those  of  Pompey  and 
Caesar,  whose  debts  were  counted  by  millions ;  and  those  of 
Commodus,  who,  in  his  brief  reign,  squandered  the  accumu- 
lations of  his  father  and  found  the  vast  revenues  of  the 
empire  insufficient  for  the  gratification  of  his  beastly  appe- 
tites. With  each  step  in  this  progress,  we  find  population 
and  wealth  diminishing,  the  fertile  lands  abandoned,  and  the 
people  becoming  more  and  more  slaves. 

In  the  United  States,  the  people  pay  their  servants,  and  all 
are  paid  according  to  their  services.  In  the  New  England 
states,  the  people  govern  themselves,  and  their  servants  have 
little  to  do,  and  therefore  receive  little.  The  people  have, 
therefore,  self-government,  good  government,  and  cheap 
government.  As  with  all  other  machinery,  it  becomes  less 
costly  as  it  improves  in  quality.  The  friction  on  a  railroad 
is  small,  and  therefore  goods  are  cheaply  carried.  The 
turnpike  gives  more  friction  and  more  cost.  As  we  pass 
south  from  New  England  we  find  less  self-government :  less 
good  government :  and  more  costly  government.  The  people 
who  cultivate  inferior  soils  are  obliged  to  content  themselves 
with  turnpikes,  and  with  governors  to  whom  they  pay  high 
salaries.  In  the  government  of  the  Union,  the  president  re- 
ceives a  salary  that  is  large  in  proportion  to  the  business  that 
he  has  to  do,  yet  moderate  by  comparison.  The  chief  offi- 
cers of  government  are  reasonably  paid,  but  the  inferior  ones 
are  always  fully  paid.*  The  custom-house  officer  has  full 
wages,  and  hence  the  small  amount  of  frauds  upon  the 
revenue.  The  letter- sorter  receives  full  wages,  and  hence 
it  is  that  the  transmission  of  money  through  a  country 
with  fourteen  thousand  post-offices  is  attended  with  risk  so 

*  "  The  mean  of  American  salaries  is  much  superior  to  ours.  When  the 
Federal  or  State  governments  want  capable  men,  they  do  as  American  mer- 
chants do,  they  pay  them.  *  *  *  In  the  Treasury  Department,  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-eight  persons  employed,  there  are  hut  six  who  have  less  than 
$1000  ;  but  it  is  equally  true  that  there  are  only  two  who  have  more  than 
$2000."—  Chevalier. 


MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW    MAN.  245 

small  as  scarcely  to  be  estimated.  The  common  soldier  has 
high  wages.  Labour  is  always  in  demand,  and  he  must 
have  the  market  price.  Wars,  therefore,  are  expensive  and 
undesirable  :  while  in  France  they  constitute  cheap  pas- 
time for  the  great,  who  take  large  salaries  themselves  and 
give  the  poor  soldier  almost  nothing  in  return  for  his  time. 

Where  wealth  and  population  grow,  the  price  of  labour 
rises,  and  soldiers  and  sailors  must  have  higher  wages  to 
secure  their  services.  As  the  better  soils  are  cultivated, 
wars,  therefore,  become  more  and  more  expensive :  and  thus 
while  the  habit  of  union  and  peace  tends  steadily  to  increase, 
the  costliness  of  war  tends  in  the  same  direction.  In  every 
way,  therefore,  does  wealth  tend  to  promote  the  further 
growth  of  wealth,  and  the  development  of  the  rich  treasures 
of  the  earth. 

If  now  we  inquire,  what  is  the  service  rendered  by  those 
who  thus  pay  themselves,  we  find  it  to  resolve  itself  into  the 
one  word,  government ;  and  by  this  is  meant  the  manage- 
ment of  the  affairs  of  others.  The  minister  governs  all :  the 
general  governs  soldiers,  and  the  admiral  governs  sailors. 
The  people  govern  nothing,  not  even  themselves  and  the  pro- 
ducts of  their  labour.  Of  that  they  are  relieved  by  the  class  of 
the  great,  who  pay  themselves  for  their  trouble,  and  whose 
trade  is  war :  for  in  time  of  war  the  spoil  of  friends  and  foes  is 
largely  distributed,  and  they  direct  the  distribution.  If  we  seek 
to  find  other  services  rendered  in  return  for  the  large  pay  that 
is  received,  we  shall  find  none.  The  great  write  no  books. 
They  furnish  no  ideas.  They  invent  no  machines.  Bacon  and 
Locke:  Shakspeare  and  Milton:  Arkwright  and  Watt:  Wash- 
ington and  Franklin:  benefactors  of  the  human  race  :  carne 
from  the  ranks  of  the  little  men,  as  has  every  man  to  whose 
labours  society  has  been  indebted.  Great  men  and  govern- 
ments patronize  authors  and  artists,  to  the  destruction  of  taste 
in  literature  and  art :  and  authors  and  artists  starve  under 
their  patronage.  With  the  growth  of  wealth  and  population 
authors  and  artists  are  found  contributing  to  supply  the 

21* 


246  MAN    AND    HIS    FELLOW    MAN. 

wants  of  the  large  class  of  little  men,  and  then  taste  im- 
proves :  and  then  authors  and  artists  grow  rich.  Doing 
little  good  themselves,  and  being  thus  the  cause  of  little 
good  in  others,  the  class  of  great  men  is  one  with  which  we 
may  readily  dispense  ;  and  the  most  rapid  advance  in  civili- 
zation will  invariably  be  found  where,  and  when,  it  is  least 
numerous. 

With  the  increase  of  population  and  wealth  the  better 
soils  come  into  cultivation,  and  men  acquire  the  power  of 
self-government  in  regard  to  thought  and  action,  and  in 
regard  to  the  disposition  of  their  labour  and  its  proceeds ; 
and  with  each  step  in  this  progress  towards  perfect  individu- 
ality there  is  an  increasing  tendency  to  union,  peace  and 
harmony ;  tending  to  promote  the  further  growth  of  wealth, 
and  the  further  extension  of  cultivation,  and  to  increase  the 
power  of  man  to  associate  with  his  fellow  man  on  terms  of 
strict  equality. 

The  PAST  says  to  the  sovereign  of  the  PRESENT  :  If  you 
would  reign  over  a  great  nation :  avoid  war,  and  labour  to 
promote  the  growth  of  wealth. 

To  the  representatives  of  the  land :  If  you  would  have 
your  properties  increase  in  value  :  avoid  wars  and  labour  to 
promote  the  growth  of  population  and  of  wealth. 

To  the  people :  if  you  would  acquire  the  power  to  think 
and  act  for  yourselves :  to  determine  how  you  will  em- 
ploy your  faculties  of  body  and  of  mind,  and  what  shall  be 
the  disposition  of  the  proceeds :  labour  to  prevent  war,  and 
waste. 


MAN.  247 


CHAPTER  VII. 


MAN. 

THE  savage  lives  in  constant  dread  of  starvation.  He 
draws  his  supply  of  food  from  the  poorest  soils.  The  lonely 
cultivator  of  the  almost  desert  land  is  forced  to  depend 
upon  the  thin  soil  of  the  hills  for  support,  and  is  in  constant 
fear  for  his  life,  and  for  the  safety  of  his  little  property.  In 
every  stranger  he  sees  one  poor  as  himself:  one  to  whom 
his  little  stock  of  wealth,  trivial  as  it  is,  would  be  a  treasure  : 
or  if,  perchance,  the  stranger  come  from  distant  and  civil- 
ized lands  :  from  among  a  people  who  cultivate  the  rich  soils 
of  the  earth  :  the  lonely  man  sees  in  the  nails  and  beads, 
and  other  treasures  of  his  visitor,  what  "  would  make  him 
rich  indeed  ;"  and  avarice  seizes  on  his  soul.  His  labour, 
severe  as  it  is,  scarcely  yields  him  food,  and  he  has  no  means 
with  which  to  buy.  He  murders  his  visitor,  and  seizes  on 
his  goods.  Here  we  have  combined,  fear,  rapacity,  treachery, 
and  cruelty  :  and  such  are,  uniformly,  the  characteristics  of 
the  men  who  are  forced  to  rely  on  the  poorest  soils  of  the 
earth  for  the  means  of  subsistence. 

The  man  who  cultivates  the  rich  soils  is  animated  by  Hope. 
He  finds  his  labours  blessed  with  large  returns,  and  he  sees 
in  the  underlying  marl  or  lime,  and  in  the  inexhaustible  sup- 
plies of  coal  and  iron  by  which  he  is  surrounded,  the  means 
of  adding  to  his  power  over  the  comforts,  conveniences,  and 
luxuries  of  life.  His  neighbours  are  men  who,  like  himself, 
have  property,  and  who,  also  like  himself,  could  fight  in  its 
defence  should  occasion  make  it  necessary  :  but  both  he 


248  MAN. 

and  they  feel  that  in  their  union  there  is  strength,  and  they 
know  no  fear.  In  the  future  they  feel  perfect  confidence, 
and  from  that  confidence  spring  feelings  of  liberality  and 
benevolence. 

By  many  of  the  teachers  of  Mr.  Ricardo's  doctrine,  it  is 
held  that  man  works  because  he  fears  starvation.  By  others, 
taxation  is  held  to  be  a  strong  stimulus  to  exertion.*  Fear, 
the  characteristic  of  the  slave,  is  in  their  estimation  the  great 
moving  principle  in  man :  and  the  whip,  in  the  form  of  taxa- 
tion, is  held  to  be  useful  in  compelling  him  to  extract  from  soils 
of"  constantly  increasing  sterility"  the  means  of  support,  and 
the  rent  required  by  his  lord.  That  such  should  be  their 
estimate  of  the  character  of  man  is  riot  extraordinary.  Mr. 
Ricardo  makes  him,  throughout,  the  victim  of  a  sad  necessity 
that  precludes  the  existence  of  hope.  He  is  destitute  of 
power  over  the  land,  or  over  himself,  and  he  can  have  no 
confidence  in  the  future.  The  machine  he  uses  must  de- 
teriorate. He  may  escape,  but  his  children  must  pay  the 
penalty  he  has  incurred  by  aiding  to  increase  the  numbers 
of  mankind,  and  thus  compelling  resort  to  less  productive 
soils. 

How  far  such  views  are  in  accordance  with  facts,  we  pro- 
pose now  to  examine.  If  man  does  commence  with  the  fer- 
tile soils,  and  proceed  downward  toward  the  poor  ones,  we 
must  find,  with  the  growth  of  population,  a  constantly  increas- 
ing tendency  towards  the  vices  of  the  slave :  fear,  cruelty, 
rapacity  and  treachery.  If,  on  the  contrary,  he  commences 
with  the  poor  soils,  and  if,  with  the  growth  of  population,  he 
is  enabled  to  pass  to  better  and  ultimately  to  the  best  soils, 
we  must  find  him  constantly  animated  by  hope,  and  prompted 
to  new  exertions  for  the  improvement  of  his  own  condi- 

*  "  To  the  desire  of  rising  in  the  world,  implanted  in  the  breast  of  every 
individual,  an  increase  of  taxation  superadds  the  fear  of  being  cast  down  to  a 
lower  station,  of  being  deprived  of  conveniences  and  gratifications  which  habit 
has  rendered  all  but  indispensable,  and  the  combined  influence  of  the  two 
principles  produces  results  that  could  not  be  produced  by  the  unassisted  agen- 
cy of  either." — McCulloch. 


MAN.  249 

tion  and  that  of  his  fellow-men  :  and  with  every  step  in  that 
direction  the  vices  of  the  slave  must  disappear,  to  be  replaced 
by  the  virtues  of  the  freeman. 

"  Hope  springs  eternal  in  the  human  breast," 

and  she  is  the  mother  of  liberality  and  benevolence,  of  kind- 
ness and  gentleness.  Without  her,  they  can  have  no  exist- 
ence. 

If  we  trace  the  history  of  the  people  of  Athens,  from  the 
days  of  her  prosperity,  prior  to  the  Persian  wars,  we  can  see 
the  gradual  growth  of  the  vices  of  the  slave.  Fear  prompts 
them  to  the  atrocious  butcheries  of  Corcyra  and  of  Mytilene. 
Rapacity  is  shown  in  the  seizing  of  the  common  treasure : 
in  the  unceasing  growth  of  taxes  ;  in  the  perpetual  increase 
of  their  own  pay  as  judges  and  legislators  ;  and  in  the  appro- 
priation of  the  tribute  to  the  maintenance  of  theatres  from 
which  the  tribute  payers  were  excluded.  Universal  tyranny : 
universal  indolence  :  and  universal  pauperism  :  accompany 
extended  dominion. 

In  Laconia,  we  find  a  people  that  cultivated  the  poorest 
soils  for  the  benefit  of  their  Spartan  masters  :  and  there  we 
find,  at  home,  fear  of  the  poor  Helot  prompting  to  acts  of 
treachery  and  cruelty,  while  abroad  we  see  fear  of  Athens 
exhibited  in  the  starvation  of  the  prisoners  of  Sicily  :  in  the 
cold-blooded  massacre  following  the  battle  of  ^Egos  Potamos  ; 
and  in  the  history  of  the  thirty  tyrants.  With  each  step  in 
their  downward  progress  we  see  land  concentrating  itself  in 
fewer  hands,  until  at  length  nearly  the  whole  becomes  the 
property  of  a  single  individual :  and  at  each  we  see  avarice 
and  all  the  vices  of  slavery  more  and  more  abounding. 

In  Rome,  we  can  see  increasing  fear  manifested  in  the 
murder  of  Pontius :  in  the  cold-blooded  destruction  of  all 
prisoners  of  distinction  at  the  close  of  every  triumph  :  in  the 
ruin  of  Carthage  :  in  the  proscriptions  and  massacres  of 
Marius  and  Sylla,  and  of  the  successive  triumvirates :  and 
in  those  of  Tiberius,  Nero,  and  their  successors :  and  with 
21 


250  MAN. 

each  step  in  their  progress,  we  can  see  land  more  and  more 
concentrating  itself:  the  fertile  soils  more  and  more  aban- 
doned :  and  slaves  more  and  more  taking  the  place  of  the 
free  people  of  the  days  of  Servius.  With  each  step,  those 
within  the  walls  become  more  and  more  pauperized  ;  and 
with  each,  rapacity,  cruelty,  and  perfidy  become  more  and 
more  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  the  whole  mass : 
rich  and  poor :  nobles  and  plebeians :  warriors  and  poli- 
ticians. 

For  centuries  in  the  history  of  Naples  and  of  modern 
Rome,  we  may  see  indolence  increasing  as  poverty  compels 
the  abandonment  of  the  more  fertile  soils,  and  produces  fear 
of  starvation:  while  rapacity,  treachery,  cruelty,  and  jea- 
lousy, gradually  come  to  pervade  every  order  of  society.  In 
Florence,  they  may  be  seen  advancing  steadily,  as  wars  and 
desolation  force  men  to  cultivate  the  poor  soils  of  the  earth, 
and  substitute  poverty  for  wealth.  Perpetual  fear  is  mani- 
fested by  unceasing  poisonings  and  open  murders:  and 
Tuscany  at  large  presents  a  scene  of  rapacity,  treachery,  and 
cruelty,  fitting  it  for  the  birth-place  of  the  principal  actor  in 
the  massacre  of  the  St.  Bartholomew.  If,  again,  we  trace  the 
history  of  the  same  beautiful  country  during  the  last  hundred 
years  :  from  the  accession  of  the  present  race  of  sovereigns  : 
we  may  see  population  and  wealth  gradually  increasing : 
land  becoming  divided  :  and  cultivation  extending  itself  over 
the  fertile  soils  :  while  hope  is  seen  taking  the  place  of  fear  ; 
and  justice  and  benevolence  becoming  substituted  for  the 
universal  rapacity  and  tyranny  which  had  driven  population 
and  wealth  from  the  land,  and  had  compelled  its  inhabitants 
to  fly  to  the  poor  soils  of  the  hills  for  safety. 

If  we  look  to  Spain,  we  may  see  perpetual  fear  manifested 
in  the  proceedings  of  the  Inquisition,  and  of  the  government, 
whether  in  Naples,  or  Milan,  Sicily,  or  the  Netherlands.  It 
may  again  be  seen  pervading  her  whole  colonial  system.  If 
we  desire  to  meet  rapacity,  cruelty,  and  jealousy  increasing 
as  depopulation  and  poverty  compel  the  abandonment  of  the 


MAN.  251 

most  fertile  soils,    we  may  find  it  in  every  page  of  her 
history. 

In  France,  perpetually  at  war,  we  see  in  the  people  almost 
constant  fear  of  starvation :  in  the  church,  perpetual  fear  of 
liberal  ideas,  manifested  by  the  atrocious  burnings  at  slow 
fires  of  miserable  heretics  of  both  sexes  ;  by  the  persecutions 
of  the  unfortunate  Vaudois  ;  and  by  the  dragonnades  of  Lou- 
vois:  in  the  lawyers,  by  unceasing  intrigues  against  the 
nobles,  and  in  the  nobles,  by  corresponding  intrigues  against 
the  upstart  nobility  of  the  gown :  in  the  class  of  nobles 
and  gentlemen,  perpetual  fear  of  insurrection,  manifested  by 
the  building  of  forts  and  castles,  and  by  the  unceasing  pro- 
hibitions of  the. use  of  even  the  most  simple  arms  by  the  un- 
happy people  :  in  princes,  perpetual  fear  of  assassination, 
as  shown  in  thousands  of  instances,  but  most  strongly  in  the 
barricades  of  the  bridges  of  Montereau,  and  of  the  Sevre : 
and  in  kings,  by  a  system  of  espionnage  unparalleled  in  the 
world  for  baseness  and  meanness. 

If  we  desire  to  see  rapacity  and  cruelty,  we  may  find  it  in 
every  page  of  her  history,  at  home  and  abroad  ;  in  the  plunder 
and  destruction  of  the  Albigenses  ;  in  the  wars  of  the  Bour- 
guignons  and  Armagnacs  ;  in  those  of  Louis  XL  and  the  bold 
Charles ;  those  of  the  League,  and  of  the  Fronde.  If  we 
look  abroad  we  may  find  it  at  every  period  in  her  intercourse 
with  unhappy  Italy :  with  Germany,  Spain,  the  Netherlands, 
and  Holland.  If  we  desire  to  find  jealousy,  it  will  be  met  in 
the  unceasing  invasions  of  Guienne  and  Normandy;  and  in 
the  perpetual  succession  of  the  puerile  wars  of  Francis  I. 
and  Henry  II.  It  will  be  found  again  in  the  fomenting  of 
the  unceasing  wars  of  Germany  and  Italy,  the  object  being 
the  depression  and  ruin  of  her  neighbours,  in  the  vain  hope 
of  thereby  raising  herself. 

If  we  seek  for  perfidy,  it  may  be  found  in  the  thousand- 
times  repeated  abandonment  of  her  Italian  allies ;  in  her 
conduct  towards  the  unfortunate  house  of  Savoy  ;  in  her  treat- 
ment of  the  people  of  Catalonia  ;  in  the  tiger-like  attacks  of 


252  MAN. 

Louis  XIV.  upon  the  people  of  the  Netherlands  and  Holland ; 
in  the  ruin  of  Tranche  Comte,  to  whose  neutrality  she  had 
in  her  hours  of  distress  and  danger  been  so  repeatedly  in- 
debted ;  in  her  conduct  on  various  occasions  to  the  Swiss  ; 
in  her  perpetual  violation  of  the  rights  of  the  people  of 
Guienne,  and  Normandy,  and  Roussillon,  and  of  each  suc- 
cessive province  added  to  the  kingdom  ;  in  her  negotiations 
with  the  Turks,  her  allies  against  Austria  and  Italy :  in 
short,  at  every  step  of  her  progress  from  the  days  of  Charle- 
magne, and  in  every  page  of  her  history,  internal  and  ex- 
ternal. 

Even  now,  we  see  fear  in  the  fortifications  of  Paris ;  in 
the  enormous  armies  maintained  throughout  the  kingdom  in 
a  time  of  general  peace  ;  in  the  censorship  and  perpetual 
persecution  of  the  press ;  in  her  system  of  passports  ;  in  her 
system  of  espionnage ;  in  the  opening  of  private  letters ; 
and  everywhere  in  her  jealous  interference  with  her  unfor- 
tunate neighbours  of  Switzerland,  Italy,  and  Spain.  We  see 
rapacity  unequalled,  in  the  collection  of  sixteen  hundred 
millions  of  taxes,  and  their  distribution  among  countless 
officials,  embracing  the  families  and  friends  of  all  connected 
with  the  government.* 

If  we  seek  cruelty,  we  may  find  it  in  the  suffocation  of 
hundreds  of  unfortunate  Moors  in  their  last  remaining  place 
of  refuge ;  in  the  razzias  of  Algeria  ;  and  in  the  recent  pro- 
ceedings at  Tahiti.  In  every  movement  we  may  see  jealousy 
of  England.  That  power  is  so  unfortunate  as  to  have  a  great 
marine  and  numerous  colonies,  and  France  is  unhappy  that 
she  has  them  not ;  and  that  she  may  have  them,  she  wastes 
hundreds  of  millions  on  worthless  Algeria. 

England  has  a  great  trade  with  the  East,  employing  labour 

*  The  whole  number  of  officials  appointed  and  paid  by  the  government 
liable  to  removal,  and  susceptible  of  promotion ,  and  annuitants  or  pension 
ers;  is  931,977,  and  the  amount  of  their  salaries  and  pensions  is  397,000,000 
of  francs,  or  nearly  80,000,000  of  dollars !  To  this  must  be  added  400,000 
soldiers  and  60,000  sailors  and  marines,  making  a  total  of  1,392,000  persons 
receiving  pay  from  that  portion  of  the  nation  which  styles  itself"  The  State." 


MAN.  253 

and  capital  that  could  be  better  employed  at  home;  and 
France,  to  rival  her,  expends  millions  on  embassies  to  China, 
and  expeditions  to  Japan,  with  little  to  send  to  either,  and 
with  little  reason  to  hope  that  they  will  find  in  her  a  market 
for  their  products.* 

Poverty  and  wretchedness  :  the  necessary  consequence  of 
misgovernment :  exist  in  every  part  of  that  great  country ; 
and  where  they  are  found,  the  habit  of  union  can  have  no 
place. f  Society  is  divided  into  two  great  classes,  separated 
by  an  impassable  gulf:  those  who  labour  to  produce  and 
may  not  enjoy,  and  those  who  enjoy  without  producing.  In 
such  a  state  of  things,  fraud  and  deception :  the  habit  of 
robbery  and  plunder :  become  habitual.J  Confidence  in  the 
future  can  have  no  existence,  and  without  that,  feelings  of 
liberality  and  benevolence  can  find  little  place  in  the  heart 
of  man.§ 

*  « I  have  always  thought  and  said  that  the  alliance  of  France  was  an  advan- 
tage for  which  all  the  powers  of  Europe  would  contend,  so  soon  as  she  should 
have  established  her  government  on  a  solid  foundation,  and  abandoned  that 
system  of  policy  which  consists  in  an  unceasing  repetition  of  the  assertion 
that  the  whole  world,  envious  of  her  glory  and  jealous  of  her  power,  is  leagued 
against  her ;  that  they  threaten  her  independence,  and  would  destroy  her  in- 
stitutions, but  that  she  has  only  to  raise  her  voice,  to  affright  the  sovereigns 
and  liberate  their  subjects  :  « she,  the  first,  the  most  enlightened,  the  bravest,  and 
the  only  free,  of  all  the  nations.'  This  stupid  and  antiquated  system  can  result 
only  in  wounding  their  feelings,  extinguishing  their  ancient  sympathies,  and 
causing  them  to  call  in  question  her  glory,  her  genius,  and  her  power.  It 
tends  to  produce  weakness  and  isolation." — Girardin. 

f  "  The  citizen  is  unconcerned,  as  to  the  condition  of  his  village,  the  police 
of  his  street,  the  repairs  of  his  church,  or  of  the  parsonage ;  for  he  looks  upon 
all  these  things  as  unconnected  with  himself;  and  as  the  property  of  a  pow- 
erful stranger  whom  he  calls  the  government." — De  Tocqueville. 

t  According  to  the  Journal  des  Dcbats,  many  parts  of  France  now  exhibit 
a  state  of  things  resembling  that  which  existed  in  Wales  but  a  short  time 
since.  That  paper  says: 

"  Bands  of  mendicants  continue  to  spread  terror  in  the  whole  of  the  Bocage. 
These  individuals,  dressed  in  gray  blouses,  their  faces  smeared  with  soot,  six  or 
seven  or  more  together,  obtain  grain  and  money,  uttering  the  most  horrible 
threats  against  those  who  Venture  to  make  any  observation  to  them.  Similar 
scenes  have  taken  place  in  the  district  of  Parthenay." 

§  In  France,  "  without  the  walls  of  the  prison,  religious  ardour  is  met  with 
in  the  ministers  of  religion  only.  If  they  are  kept  from  the  penitentiary,  the 
influence  of  religion  will  disappear :  philanthropy  alone  will  remain  for  the 

22 


254  MAN. 

More  than  any  other  nation  in  Europe,  England  has  en- 
joyed peace  at  home,  yet  has  her  policy  been  marked  by 
many  and  serious  errors.  She  has  looked  abroad,  and  ships, 
colonies,  and  commerce  have  involved  her  in  ruinous  wars, 
while  her  own  richest  soils  have  remained  uncultivated. 
War,  and  preparation  for  it,  have  produced  here  their  usual 
effects,  in  a  degree  corresponding  with  the  extent  to  which 
war  has  been  her  trade.  We  see,  here,  fear  exhibiting  it- 
self in  the  maintenance  of  a  standing  army :  in  the  prohibi- 
tion to  the  people  of  Ireland  of  the  right  to  carry  arms :  in 
the  revival  in  that  country  of  the  system  of  the  curfew  :  in  the 
opening  of  private  letters  :*  in  the  trials  for  high  treason  that 
marked  the  early  years  of  the  late  war :  in  the  Manchester 
massacre  :  in  the  barbarous  punishments  of  soldiers:  in  the 
collusion  between  high  officers  of  the  government  and  offi- 
cers charged  with  summoning  juries  for  the  trial  of  state  pri- 
soners :f  in  the  Rebecca  riots :  in  the  throwing  of  vitriol  and 
various  other  modes  adopted  for  inflicting  personal  injury  :  in 
the  proceedings  of  the  Luddites  :  in  the  constant  resistance  to 
the  introduction  of  improvements  in  agricultural  and  manufac- 
turing machinery  :  and  in  various  other  of  the  modes  of  action 


reformation  of  criminals.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  there  are  with  us  generous 
individuals,  who,  endowed  with  profound  sensibility,  are  zealous  to  alleviate 
any  misery,  and  to  heal  the  wounds  of  humanity  :  so  far  their  attention,  ex- 
clusively occupied  with  the  physical  situation  of  the  prisoners,  has  neglected 
a  much  more  precious  interest,  that  of  their  moral  reformation.  *  *  *  But 
these  sincere  philanthropists  are  rare;  in  most  cases  philanthropy  is  with  us 
but  an  affair  of  the  imagination." — De  Beaumont  and  De  Tocqueville. 

*  "  Let  us  begin  by  acknowledging  that  the  case  attempted  to  be  made  out 
against  the  present  government,  as  guilty  of  something  worse  in  the  shape  of 
post-office  espionnage  than  their  predecessors,  has  not  hitherto  been  sustained. 
The  moment  the  Marquis  of  Normandy  stated  in  the  House  of 
Lords  that  he  had  opened  letters  while  in  onice  in  Ireland,  it  became  evident 
to  all  impartial  reasoning  men  that  the  two  parties  were  upon  an  equal  foot- 
ing."—  Westminster  Review,  1844. 

f  Direct  interferences  have  been  proved  «  to  have  taken  place  between  the  so- 
licitor of  the  treasury  and  the  officer  whose  duty  it  was  to  have  maintained  an 
impartial  position  between  the  subject  and  the  crown,"  by  means  of  which  the 
crown  has  been  enabled  to  pack  the  juries  on  trials  of  high  treason.  See 
Westminster  Review,  vol.  45,  p.  210. 


MAN.  255 

adopted  by  individuals,  and  by  those  charged  with  the  duties 
of  government.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  fear  has  been  accompa- 
nied with  cruelty,  as  shown  in  her  mad-houses,  the  horrors  of 
which  have,  until  recently,  almost  exceeded  belief:  in  her  mon- 
strous system  of  impressment ;  in  the  prodigious  extent  to 
which  capital  punishments  have,  until  recently,  been  carried  : 
in  the  excessive  overworking  of  young  and  feeble  operatives : 
in  the  harshness  exercised  towards  the  class  of  unfortunate 
people  who,  from  ill  health,  or  inability  to  obtain  employ- 
ment, are  thrown  upon  the  public  for  support ;  as  shown 
in  the  recent  poor-law  system,  so  merciless  that  it  could  not 
be  enforced  in  reference  to  some  of  its  most  important  fea- 
tures :  in  the  horrible  treatment  of  pauper  lunatics  :*  in  the 
maintenance  of  places  of  exile  like  that  of  Norfolk  island,  the 
«  hell  upon  earth  :"  in  the  punishment  of  poachers :f  in  the 
expulsion  of  the  Highlanders ;  and,  more  recently,  in  that  of 
the  people  of  Sutherland : J  and  both  cruelty  and  rapacity 
are  fully  shown  in  the  taxation  of  India,  where  duties  are 
imposed  upon  all  the  necessaries  of  life,  and  salt  is  monopo- 
lized for  the  benefit  of  proprietors  of  India  stock.  Through- 

*  "  Examples  of  the  most  horrifying  description  have  been  recorded  by  the 
poor-law  commissioners,  who,  in  their  published  reports,  have  given  innumera- 
ble instances  of  the  grossest  barbarity.  The  portion  of  the  domestic  accom- 
modation usually  assigned  to  these  unfortunates  is  that  commonly  devoted  to 
Jhe  reception  of  coals,  &c. ;  namely,  the  triangular  space  formed  between  the 
stairs  and  the  ground-floor.  In  this  confined,  dark,  and  damp  corner  may  be 
found  at  this  very  time  no  small  number  of  our  fellow-beings,  huddled,  crouch- 
ing and  gibbering  with  less  apparent  intelligence,  and  under  worse  treatment 
than  the  lower  domestic  animals." — Westminster  Review,  vol.  45,  p.  192. 

-(•In  Buckinghamshire,  with  a  population  of  237,000,  there  were  of  summary 
convictions  in  1839,  363;  1840,  370;  1841,  407  ;  1842,  511 ;  and  1843, 
466.  Game  law  convictions  in  1839,  89;  1840,  99;  1841,  125;  1842,  134; 
and  1843,  178.  Proportion  per  cent,  of  game  law  to  summary  convictions  in 

1839,  21.5;   1840,  26.1  ;   1841,  30.7;  1842,  26.1 ;  and  1843,  31.8.     Propor- 
tion of  game  law  convictions  to   100,000  of  male  population  in   1839,  118; 

1840,  130;   1841,  163;  1842,  174;  and  1843,  230.     Increase  per  cent.  95.2. 
t  Three  thousand  families  were  expelled  from  their  little  farms  on  the  Suther- 
land estate,  and  their  villages  burnt.     Two  acres  per  family  were  allowed  them 
elsewhere,  to  be  held  on  short  leases,  on  payment  of  a  rent  of  two  shillings  and 
six  pence  per  acre.     Nearly  the  whole  race  of  Highlanders  has  been  expelled 
in  a  similar  manner,  and  their  habitations  destroyed. 


256  MAN. 

out  England,  Hope  does  not,  as  a  rule,  prevail.  The  «  un- 
easy class"  is  large.  Every  man  looks  with  anxiety  to  the 
future  for  himself,  or  his  children.  The  avenues  to  employ- 
ment are  blocked  against  those  whose  means  are  insufficient 
to  command  »  connection,"  and  therefore  is  it  that  great  sums 
are  paid  for  "  good  wills  ;"  for  shares  in  established  houses  ; 
and  for  appointments  to  office.  The  necessary  consequence 
of  such  a  condition  of  affairs  is  the  existence  throughout 
society  of  power  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  feebleness  and 
servility  on  the  other.  The  labourer  must  vote  as  he  is  or- 
dered, or  he  may  be  ejected  from  his  cottage:  and  he  must  be 
grateful  in  the  highest  degree  for  the  allotment  of  a  quarter 
of  an  acre  that  he  may  cultivate  on  payment  of  an  exorbitant 
rent.  The  operative  must  submit,  for  employment  is  scarce. 
The  clerk  must  bend,  for  clerkships  are  not  abundant. 

She  is  now,  however,  turning  her  attention  homeward.  She 
is  making  railroads,  and  bringing  into  cultivation  better  soils: 
and  each  step  in  that  direction  will  tend  to  give  to  the  la- 
bourer increased  hope  in  the  future,  while  to  the  landlord  it 
will  give  increased  confidence  that  it  rests  with  himself  alone 
to  secure  not  only  a  continuance  of  the  present  income  from 
his  property,  but  a  steady  and  rapid  increase.  With  each 
step,  we  shall  find  man  more  and  more  acquiring  power  over 
himself,  and  greater  self-reliance,  essential  to  the  exten- 
sion of  those  feelings  of  liberality,  benevolence  and  kindness* 
by  which  portions  of  British  society  have  been  so  honourably 
distinguished. 

By  no  portion  of  the  human  race  has  peace  been  so  steadily 
maintained  as  by  the  people  of  the  United  States,  during 
the  sixty  years  which  followed  the  recognition  of  their  inde- 
pendence, and  in  no  country  have  wealth  and  population  so 
rapidly  grown.  In  none,  therefore,  does  man  exercise  so 
much  power  over  himself.  In  none  prevails  so  universally 
confidence  in  themselves,  and  in  the  future.*  Hope  ani- 

*  "Society  says  to  the  poor  man  in  America,  labour!  and  at  eighteen 
years  you  will  earn  more,  labourer  as  you  are,  than  a  captain  can  do  in  Eu- 


MAN.  257 

mates  all  to  industry,  and  stimulates  the  faculties  for  the 
invention  of  machinery  for  increasing  the  productiveness  of 
labour,*  while  prompting  all  to  union  for  the  promotion  of 
works  of  public  usefulness,  of  charity  and  benevolence. f  In 
none  is  there  so  little  religious  jealousy,  for  there  are  no 
spoils  to  be  divided.  In  none  so  little  jealousy  of  station, 
for  all  feel  that  they  themselves  can  rise.  In  none  so  little 
jealousy  of  property,  for  all  have  or  can  obtain  it.J  In 
none  does  there  exist  a  recognition  so  universal  of  the  supe- 
rior claims  of  talent,  for  all  read.  In  none  so  little  deference 


rope.  You  will  live  in  abundance,  you  will  he  well  clothed,  well  lodged,  and 
you  will  be  able  to  accumulate  capital.  Be  assiduous,  sober,  and  religious, 
and  you  will  find  a  devoted  and  submissive  companion;  you  will  have  a  home 
better  provided  with  comforts  than  that  of  many  of  the  employers  in  Europe. 
From  a  workman  you  will  become  an  employer ;  you  will  have  apprentices 
and  domestics  in  your  turn ;  you  will  have  credit  and  abundant  means ;  you 
will  become  a  manufacturer  or  great  farmer;  you  will  speculate  and  become 
rich;  you  will  build  a  town,  and  give  it  your  name  ;  you  will  become  a  mem- 
ber of  the  legislature  of  your  state,  or  alderman  of  your  city,  and  then  mem- 
ber of  Congress ;  your  son  will  have  the  same  chance  of  being  president,  as 
the  son  of  the  President  himself.  Labour !  and  if  the  chance  of  business 
should  be  against  you,  and  you  should  fall,  you  will  speedily  rise  again,  for 
here  failure  is  not  considered  like  a  wound  received  in  battle ;  it  will  not  cause 
you  to  loose  esteem  or  confidence,  provided  you  have  been  always  temperate 
and  regular,  a  good  Christian,  and  faithful  husband" — Chevalier. 

*  «  Tall,  slender,  and  well-made,  the  American  appears  built  expressly  for 
labour.  He  has  not  his  equal  in  the  world  for  rapidity  of  work.  None  so 
readily  fall  into  new  modes  of  practice.  He  is  always  ready  to  change  them, 
or  his  tools,  or  even  his  trade.  He  is  a  machinist  in  his  soul.  *  *  * 
There  is  not  a  countryman  in  Connecticut  or  Massachusetts,  who  has  not  in- 
vented his  machine." — Chevalier. 

f  "  The  Americans  have  great  earnestness  of  character.  *  *  *  Only 
let  them  fully  apprehend  the  importance  of  an  object,  and  you  will  see  them 
move  to  it  with  a  directness  of  mind,  and  a  scorn  of  sacrifices,  which  would 
surprise  weaker  natures.  *  *  *  I  know  of  no  country  where  there  are 
more  examples  of  beneficence  and  magnificence.  The  rich  will  act  nobly 
out  of  their  abundance  ;  and  the  poor  will  act  as  nobly  out  of  their  penury." — 
Visit  to  the  American  Churches. 

« In  no  country  in  the  world  do  the  citizens  make  such  exertions  for  the 
common  weal ;  and  I  am  acquainted  with  no  people  which  has  established 
schools  as  numerous  and  as  efficacious,  places  of  worship  better  suited  to 
the  wants  of  the  inhabitants,  or  roads  kept  in  better  repair." — De  Tocque- 
ville. 

t  "  In  America,  those  complaints  against  property  in  general,  which  are  so 

2K 


258  MAN. 

to  authority,  for  all  think.*  In  none  does  there  exist  so 
universally  the  feeling  of  self- respect. f  In  none  is  avarice 
so  rarely  seen4  In  none  are  the  contributions  of  money 
and  service,  in  aid  of  literary  and  scientific,  religious  and 
charitable  institutions  :§  of  schools,  colleges,  libraries,  hos- 

frequent  in  Europe,  are  never  heard,  because  in  America  there  are  no  pau- 
pers ;  and  as  every  one  has  property  of  his  own  to  defend,  every  one  recognises 
the  principle  upon  which  he  holds  it." — De  Tocqueville. 

*  "  The  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  are  never  fettered  by  the  axioms 
of  their  professions;  they  escape  from  all  the  prejudices  of  their  present  sta- 
tion ;  they  are  not  more  attached  to  one  line  of  operation  than  to  another; 
they  are  not  more  prone  to  employ  an  old  method  than  a  new  one  ;  they 
have  no  rooted  habits,  and  they  easily  shake  off  the  influence  which  the 
habits  of  other  nations  might  exercise  upon  their  minds,  from  a  conviction 
that  their  country  is  unlike  any  other,  and  that  its  situation  is  without  a  pre- 
cedent in  the  world.  America  is  a  land  of  wonders,  in  which  every  thing  is 
in  constant  motion,  and  every  movement  seems  an  improvement.  The  idea 
of  novelty  is  there  indissolubly  connected  with  the  idea  of  amelioration.  No 
natural  boundary  seems  to  be  set  to  the  efforts  of  man,  and  what  is  not  yet 
done,  is  only  what  he  has  not  yet  attempted  to  do." — De  Tocqueville. 

f  "  The  mass  of  the  American  people  are  more  fully  initiated  than  the 
mass  of  European  population,  in  what  relates  to  the  dignity  of  man,  or  at 
least,  in  regard  to  their  own  dignity.  The  American  workman  is  full  of  self- 
respect,  which  he  manifests  not  only  by  an  extreme  susceptibility,  and  by  his 
repugnance  to  use  the  term  master,  which  he  replaces  by  that  of  employer,  but 
also  by  much  greater  good  faith,  exactitude,  and  scrupulousness  in  his  transac- 
tions. He  is  exempt  from  the  vices  of  the  slave,  such  as  lying  and  stealing, 
which  are  so  frequent  among  our  labourers,  particularly  those  of  our  cities 
and  factories." — Chevalier. 

t  "  It  might  be  thought,  that  among  a  people  so  profoundly  absorbed  by 
the  care  of  their  material  interests,  misers  would  abound.  Such  is  not  the 
case." — Chevalier. 

"  The  universal  moving  power  with  an  American  is  the  desire  of  wealth, 
but  it  would  be  to  deceive  ourselves  to  suppose  that  he  is  not  capable  of  pe- 
cuniary sacrifices.  He  has  the  habit  of  giving,  and  he  practises  it  without 
regret,  more  frequently  than  ourselves,  and  more  largely  also ;  but  his  munifi- 
cence and  his  gifts  are  governed  by  reason  and  by  calculation.  It  is  neither 
enthusiasm  nor  passion  that  opens  his  purse." — Chevalter. 

§  "  There  is  no  village  in  the  United  States  without  its  church,  no  deno- 
mination of  Christians  in  any  city  without  its  house  of  prayer,  no  congrega- 
tion in  any  of  the  new  settlements  without  the  spiritual  consolation  of  a  pas- 
tor."— Grund. 

"  Whatever  may  be  the  actual  use  of  the  means  to  be  found  in  this  coun- 
try, certainly  those  means,  as  they  contribute  to  supply  the  church  with  a 
well-trained  and  efficient  ministry,  excel  any  thing  which  we  have  at  home. 
The  student  for  the  sacred  calling  gets  a  better  classical  and  general  education 
than  he  would  get  in  our  dissenting  colleges,  while  his  professional  education 
is  not  inferior;  and  he  gets  a  theological  education  unspeakably  better  than 


MAN.  259 

pitals,  asylums  for  the  deaf,  the  dumb,  the  blind,*  the 
youthful  and  the  adult  criminal  ;f  so  great :  because  in 
none  is  land  so  powerless,  and  in  none  is  man  so  strong  or 
so  united.  J  In  none  does  there  exist  so  strong  a  tendency 
towards  bringing  into  activity  all  the  vast  treasures  of  the 
earth ;  because  in  none  is  the  capitalist,  large  and  small,  so 
free  to  invest  his  accumulations  at  his  pleasure.  In  none  is 
the  labourer  so  free  to  select  his  employer.  In  none  is  the 
employer  so  free  to  discharge  his  labourer.  In  none  is  the 
reward  of  labour  so  great.  In  none  are  fleets  and  armies 
so  small :  and  in  none  does  there  exist  so  strong  an  induce- 
ment to  the  application  of  all  the  powers  of  body  and  of 
mind,  in  the  manner  deemed  likely  most  to  contribute  to  the 
advancement  of  physical,  moral,  intellectual,  and  political 
condition. § 


Oxford  or  Cambridge  would  afford  him,  though  his  classical  advantages 
would  be  less." — Visit  to  the  American  Churches. 

"I  have  seen  a  list  of  bequests  and  donations  made  during  the  last  thirty 
years,  for  the  benefit  of  religious,  charitable,  and  literary  institutions,  in  the 
State  of  Massachusetts  alone,  and  they  amounted  to  no  less  a  sum  than 
$6,000,000,  or  more  than  £1,000,000  sterling."— Lyell 

*  "  It  appears  doubtful  whether  the  education  of  the  blind  has  ever  been 
carried  so  far  as  at  present  in  the  United  States ;  and  there  is  one  set  of  par- 
ticulars, at  least,  in  which  we  would  do  well  to  learn  from  the  new  country." 
— Martineau. 

•j-  "  In  America,  the  progress  of  the  reform  of  prisons  has  been  of  a  charac- 
ter essentially  religious.  Men,  prompted  by  religious  feelings,  have  conceived 
and  accomplished  every  thing  which  has  been  undertaken ;  they  were  not  left 
alone;  but  their  zeal  gave  the  impulse  to  all,  and  thus  excited  in  all  minds 
the  ardour  which  animated  theirs." — De  feaumont  and  DC  Tocquwille. 

"  A  multitude  of  charitable  persons,  who  are  not  ministers  by  profession, 
sacrifice,  nevertheless,  a  great  part  of  their  time  to  the  moral  reformation  of 
criminals." — Ibid. 

$  "  In  no  country  does  crime  more  rarely  elude  punishment.  The  reason 
is,  that  every  one  conceives  himself  to  be  interested  in  furnishing  evidence  of 
the  act  committed,  and  of  stopping  the  delinquent.  During  my  stay  in  the 
United  States,  I  witnessed  the  spontaneous  formation  of  committees  for  the 
pursuit  and  prosecution  of  a  man  who  had  committed  a  great  crime  in  a  cer- 
tain county.  In  Europe,  a  criminal  is  an  unhappy  being  who  is  struggling 
for  his  life  against  the  ministers  of  justice,  while  the  population  is  merely  a 
spectator  of  the  conflict :  in  America,  he  is  looked  upon  as  the  enemy  of  the 
human  race,  and  the  whole  of  mankind  is  against  him." — De  Tocqueville. 

§  « In  spite  of  the  constant  influx  of  uneducated  and  pennyless  adventurers 


260  MAN. 

We  are  told,  that  « God  hath  made  man  upright,  but 
he  has  sought  out  many  inventions."  Man  was  made 
upright,  and  man  is  upright,  when  permitted  so  to  be. 
Throughout  .the  world,  he  is  disposed  to  labour  for  the 
maintenance  and  improvement  of  his  condition,  wherever 
he  sees  that  such  improvement  follows  labour :  but  unhap- 
pily there  has  existed  at  every  period,  and  in  every  portion  of 
the  world,  a  class  to  whom  labour  was  disagreeable,  and  who 
preferred  living  on  that  of  others,  paying  themselves  for 
performing  the  duties  of  government.  In  some  cases,  they 
exercise  greater,  and  in  others  less,  power  over  those  by 
whom  they  are  surrounded  ;  and  in  all  cases,  the  vices  of  the 
slave  are  found  existing  in  the  precise  ratio  of  that  power : 
while  with  its  diminution  we  find  them  invariably  becoming 
replaced  by  the  virtuous  habits  of  freemen.  England  has 
increased  more  rapidly  in  wealth  and  population  than  the 
rest  of  Europe,  and,  therefore  it  is  that  there  those  vices 
are  found  least  existing :  while  France  has  remained  almost 
stationary,  and,  therefore  it  is  that  in  that  country  hope 
scarcely  exists,  while  fear,  and  jealousy,  and  cruelty,  and 
avarice  so  much  abound. 

That  such  is  the  case  is  not  the  fault  of  the  people 
but  of  the  government,  which  deprives  them  of  the  power, 
and  the  hope,  of  improvement.  Great  numbers  of  French- 
men have  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  settle  in  the  United 
States,  where  they  have  manifested  the  possession  of  all  the 
qualities  requisite  for  excellent  citizens,  and  so  would  they 
do  at  home,  had  they  hope  to  animate  them  to  exertion. 
The  Union  possesses  no  class  of  citizens  more  orderly,  in- 
dustrious, and  respectable,  than  those  derived  from  France. 
The  same,  however,  may  be  said  of  the  natives  of  every 
clime.  The  Englishman  brings  with  him  the  habit  of  strikes, 
turn-outs,  and  combinations,  but  it  passes  gradually  away, 

from  Europe,  I  believe  it  would  be  impossible  to  find  5,000,000  in  any  other 
region  of  the  globe  whose  average  moral,  social,  and  intellectual  condition 
stands  so  high." — Lyell. 


MAN.  261 

as  he  finds  that  he  has  rights,  and  has  also  the  power  to 
maintain  them.  The  German  labours  and  thrives  every- 
where. The  Irishman  brings  with  him  his  party  feuds  :  and 
Catholic  and  Orangemen  maintain,  for  a  time,  the  cordial 
hatred  engendered  by  long  years  of  oppression  on  one  hand 
and  unquiet  endurance  on  the  other :  but  in  time  this,  too, 
passes  away,  and  all  become  Americans,  the  causes  of  hate 
forgotten.  So  would  it  everywhere  be,  were  men  permitted 
to  cultivate  the  land  in  peace,  and  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their 
labour ;  but  so  long  as  large  armies  and  fleets  are  to  be 
maintained  :  so  long  as  the  major  part  of  the  produce  of  the 
land  shall  continue  to  be  consumed  by  those  who  do  not 
labour :  and  so  long  as  men  shall  be  compelled  to  cultivate 
poor  soils  when  they  might  have  rich  ones :  virtue  and  happi- 
ness cannot  increase.  The  people,  everywhere,  love  peace, 
and  everywhere  they  desire  to  unite  with  each  other. 
Their  rulers,  everywhere,  love  war,  and  preparation  for  war. 

The  PAST  says  to  the  landlord  of  the  PRESENT  : — If  you 
would  desire  to  see  your  property  increase  in  value:  strive 
for  the  maintenance  of  peace,  that  population  and  wealth 
may  grow  ;  and  that  habits  of  union,  and  feelings  of  bene- 
volence and  kindness,  may  prevail  throughout  the  society 
of  which  you  are  a  member. 

To  the  labourer  it  says :  If  you  would  acquire  the 
power  of  union  with  your  fellows  for  the  promotion  of  feel- 
ings of  mutual  kindness  and  benevolence  :  if  you  would 
acquire  confidence  in  the  future :  if  you  would  be  animated 
by  hope  :  strive  for  the  maintenance  of  peace. 


262  MAN   AND    HIS    HELPMATE. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

MAN    AND    HIS    HELPMATE. 

THE  savage  derives  his  subsistence  from  the  poorest  soils. 
He  roams  abroad,  and  shoots  the  deer:  but  leaves  to  his  un- 
happy helpmate  the  task  of  carrying  it  home  on  her  shoulders, 
and  that  of  preparing  it  for  his  consumption.  He  helps  him- 
self, and  when  there  is  sufficient  for  both,  she  may  eat. 
When  it  is  otherwise,  she  may  starve.  She  is  his  slave,  ever 
ready  to  prostitute  herself  to  the  stranger  for  a  mouthful  of 
food,  a  bead,  or  a  nail. 

The  man  who  cultivates  the  rich  soils  of  the  earth  sees  in 
woman  the  source  of  his  greatest  happiness.  The  companion 
of  his  hours  of  enjoyment,  he  turns  instinctively  to  her  for  so- 
lace in  the  hours  of  affliction.  He  labours,  that  she  may 
rest.  He  economizes,  that  she  may  enjoy  the  comforts  and 
luxuries  of  life :  while  she  regards  him  as  the  chosen  partner 
of  her  existence,  and  the  father  of  her  children ;  and,  as 
such,  entitled  to  exclusive  possession  of  her  affections. 

If  we  trace  the  history  of  woman  in  Athens,  we  may  see 
the  gradual  decline  of  her  influence  as  incessant  wars  brought 
poverty  and  depopulation,  and  as  the  cultivation  of  the  fertile 
soils  was  more  and  more  abandoned  ;  until  we  meet,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  Hetara,  constituting  an  important  element  of  so- 
ciety :  and,  on  the  other,  the  female  slave,  engaged  in  the 
severest  labours,  and  not  unfrequently  perishing  for  want  of 
food :  while  abroad,  women  and  children  are  involved  with 
husbands  and  fathers  in  the  atrocious  punishments  that  fol- 
low resistance  to  the  orders  of  a  rapacious  military  aristo- 


MAN    AND    HIS    HELPMATE.  263 

cracy,  eager  to  divide  among  themselves  the  plunder  of 
subject  cities. 

If  we  look  to  Rome  in  the  prosperous  days  when  the  fer- 
tile lands  of  Latium,  cultivated  by  their  free  owners,  gave 
food  to  numerous  cities,  we  may  see  woman  respected,  and 
respecting  herself.  If  we  seek  her  in  the  days  when  popu- 
lation had  declined,  and  cultivation  had  been  abandoned  to 
slaves,  and  when  Italy  had  ceased  to  afford  food  for  her 
greatly  diminished  numbers,  we  find  her  type  in  Messalina 
and  Agrippina,  Poppoea  and  Faustina. 

In  modern  Italy,  with  the  decay  of  population  and  of 
wealth,  we  see  thousands  of  women,  who  have  witnessed  the 
massacre  of  their  husbands  and  their  sons,  driven  abroad,  to 
perish  of  starvation,  or  subjected  to  the  last  outrages  by 
hordes  of  wandering  barbarians :  Franks  or  Germans  :  while 
in  Lucrece  Borgia,  or  Beatrice  Cenci,  we  find  the  type  of 
woman  in  the  higher  ranks  of  life.  In  the  poorest  parts  of 
Italy :  those  in  which  land  is  least  divided  :  may  now  be  found 
the  wealthiest  women:  while  the  wife  of  the  poor  serf  slaves 
in  the  field  to  obtain  a  small  allowance  of  the  poorest  food. 
Increasing  inequality  of  condition,  and  increasing  crime,  are 
thus  the  invariable  attendants  of  poverty  and  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  fertile  soils  of  the  earth.  If  we  desire  other  evi- 
dences of  this,  we  may  turn  to  France  in  the  terrific  days  of 
the  Merovingians  :  and  there  we  find  the  sex  a  slave  to  the 
worst  passions  of  men,  the  subjects  of  female  barbarians  occu- 
pying thrones,  who  are  known  to  history  by  the  names  of  Fre- 
degonda  and  Brunechild :  women  almost  unmatched  for  crime. 

Exhausted  by  wars  of  conquest  under  Charlemagne,  we 
find  France  a  prey  to  invasion  from  every  side,  by  barbarians 
who  respected  neither  age  nor  sex.  The  cultivation  of  the 
land  was  abandoned,  and  the  people  who  escaped  the  sword 
perished  of  starvation.  Poverty  and  depopulation  gave  birth 
to  the  barbarism  of  the  feudal  system,  for  which  the  world 
stands  her  debtor.  With  each  step  in  its  progress  men 
were  forced  to  resort  to  poorer  soils :  and  with  each  we  see 


264  MAN   AND    HIS    HELPMATE. 

the  poorer  freeman  gradually  losing  control  over  his  actions, 
and  becoming  daily  more  and  more  the  slave  of  his  lord. 
With  each,  'we  see  the  honour  of  his  wife  and  daughter  be- 
coming less  and  less  secure ;  until  at  length  we  find  the  droit 
de  ja?nbageetdecuissageuuiversa\\y  asserted,  and  so  generally 
exercised  that  the  eldest  born  of  the  tenant  is  held  more 
honourable  than  the  others :  it  being  probable  that  it  was  the 
child  of  the  lord.  Concubinage  becomes  universal,  and 
bastardy  ceases  to  cause  any  feeling  of  disgrace.  Dissolute 
queens  provide  mistresses  for  their  husbands :  while  princes, 
styled  "the  good,"  or  "great,"  number  their  concubines  by 
dozens  :  and  bdtards  and  grand  bdtards  fill  the  highest  office 
of  state,  and  monopolize  the  great  dignities  of  the  church : 
or  distinguish  themselves  as  ecorcheurs,  or  flayers  of  the  un- 
fortunate peasant,  whose  wife  perishes  of  starvation  while 
they  accumulate  vast  fortunes,  and  take  rank  among  the  good 
and  great.  Later,  queens  find  in  the  easy  virtue  of  their 
maids  of  honour,  security  for  the  adhesion  of  their  partisans: 
and  gentlemen  find  in  rape  one  of  the  inducements  to  the  in- 
vasion of  the  unfortunate  lands  of  Italy  or  Spain,  Germany 
or  the  Netherlands.  Cities  and  towns  are  sacked :  and  no- 
bles and  gentlemen  gorge  themselves  with  plunder,  while 
women  and  children  ask  in  vain  for  food.  Titled  prostitutes 
next  direct  the  affairs  of  state,  and  women  suffer  at  the  stake 
for  errors  of  opinion  :  while  wives  and  daughters  of  the 
poor  serfs  labour  in  the  field,  seeking  in  vain  from  the  mise- 
rable soils  they  cultivate  the  means  of  supporting  life.  Un- 
ceasing wars  and  universal  poverty  are  accompanied  by 
excessive  inequality,  and  by  the  dissoluteness  of  manners 
that  invariably  attends  the  absence  of  all  control  on  the  part 
of  the  many,  and  the  consciousness  of  the  possession  of  un- 
limited power  on  the  part  of  the  few.  Duchesses  now  pub- 
lish to  the  world  the  histories  of  their  amours,  and  princesses 
of  the  blood  are  honoured  by  the  notice  of  Montespans. 
Queens  and  kept  mistresses  are  compagnons  du  voyage, 
and  Brinvilliers  furnishes  poisons  to  enable  amorous  wives 


MAN    AND    HIS    HELPMATE.  265 

to  change  their  husbands.  Thus,  by  degrees,  we  reach  the 
period  when  incest  ceases  to  be  a  crime,  and  the  represen- 
tative of  majesty  takes  his  mistresses  indifferently  from  among 
the  daughters  of  others,  or  his  own.  The  pare  aux  cerfs,  or 
royal  academy  for  prostitutes,  maintained  at  the  cost  of  mil- 
lions collected  by  taxes  on  salt  and  all  other  of  the  necessa- 
ries of  life,  next  occupies  the  time  and  mind  of  the  sovereign  : 
while  a  du  Barri  holds  the  helm  of  state.  Arriving  at  the 
period  of  the  Revolution,  we  see  poissardes  heading  insurrec- 
tions, while  queens,  princesses,  and  duchesses,  are  dragged 
to  prison,  preparatory  to  being  made  to  feel  the  weight  of  the 
revolutionary  axe  :  and  indiscriminate  murder :  noyades  and 
fusillades :  s\veeps  off  by  thousands  miserable  men,  whose 
wives  and  daughters,  reduced,  perhaps,  from  affluence,  are 
forced  to  beg  their  bread  from  door  to  door,  or  seek  a  refuge 
from  starvation  in  the  horrors  of  public  prostitution. 

In  nothing  is  the  brutalizing  effect  of  perpetual  war  more 
fully  exhibited  than  in  the  total  want  of  respect  for  female 
life  or  honour,  that  is  shown  in  every  portion  of  the  history 
of  France.  The  "  bom  bouchers"  of  Charles  the  Bold  spare 
neither  women  nor  children.  The  Bourguignons  and  Ar- 
magnacs  spare  none.  The  Turkish  allies  of  France  sweep 
off  the  women  and  children  of  Italy  by  thousands  into  cap- 
tivity. On  the  other  hand,  Diana  of  Poictiers  is  more  con- 
spicuous in  history  than  her  royal,  and  more  youthful,  lover : 
and  the  head  of  the  house  of  Bourbon  is  rarely  mentioned  but 
in  company  with  his  mistress,  la  belle  Gabrielle:  while  thou- 
sands feel  for  the  sorrows  of  the  unhappy  La  Fayette,  who 
would  find  it  difficult  to  bestow  a  thought  upon  the  unfortu- 
nate women  of  Milan,  Mantua, or  Naples,  Ghent,or  Bruges, 
whose  husbands  and  sons  are  mowed  down  by  thousands ; 
while  they  themselves  are  made  to  endure  the  last  indignities 
to  which  their  sex  is  liable,  and  their  daughters  are  forced  to 
seek  in  prostitution  the  means  of  obtaining  food.  The  his- 
tory of  that  unfortunate  country  is  one  of  perpetual  poverty ; 
and  a  record  of  total  inability  to  resort  for  support  to  any  but 
2L  23 


266  MAN    AND    HIS    HELPMATE. 

the  poor  soils :  and  the  man  who  derives  his  subsistence 
from  those  soils  is  always  a  barbarian :  and  not  the  less  so 
because  he  chances  to  wear  a  cocked  hat  and  feathers.  Ex- 
treme inequality  in  the  condition  of  the  different  portions  of 
the  female  sex,  is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  barbarism  : 
and  in  every  portion  of  the  history  of  France  is  exhibited  the 
same  inequality  that  is  now  shown  in  the  poor  girl  who,  un- 
able to  purchase  fuel,  sleeps  in  the  day  and  works  by  night 
in  the  stable  that  she  may  derive  from  the  proximity  of  ani- 
mals a  supply  of  heat,  on  the  one  hand :  and  the  vast  fortune 
of  the  Duchesse  de  Praslin,  on  the  other.* 

If  we  look  at  the  condition  of  the  sex  in  the  present  day, 
we  see  the  results  of  perpetual  war,  in  the  fact  that  women 
still  labour  in  the  field  :  in  the  aversion  to  marriage  on  the 
part  of  the  men :  and  in  the  absolute  necessity  for  the  dot. 
An  unportioned  woman  has  no  chance  of  marriage :  while 
those  who  have  portions  see  their  husbands  but  for  a  moment, 
before  forming  a  connection  that  is  intended  to  last  for  life. 
Marriages  de  convenance  are  universal,  and  frequent  adultery 
is  the  necessary  consequence  :  while  tens  of  thousands  of  wo- 
men see  no  immorality  in  the  formation  of  temporary  unions. 
Foundling  hospitals  enable  them  to  dispose  of  their  offspring, 
to  perish  by  hundreds  in  the  hands  of  hireling  nurses  paid 
out  of  the  proceeds  of  taxes  imposed  upon  the  honest  and 
virtuous  labourer,  whose  unremitted  exertions  are  insufficient 
to  enable  him  to  procure  a  miserable  subsistence  for  his  wife 
and  his  children :  and  who  lives  on,  a  creature  without  hope, 
while  mistresses  and  female  stock-gamblers,  titled  and  un- 
titled,  have  boxes  at  the  opera,  and  sport  their  gay  equipages 
at  the  fete  of  Longchamps :  while  queens  and  princesses  have 
palaces  that  count  almost  by  dozens,  and  young  ladies, 
just  married,  and  become  enceinte,  publish  the  fact  through 

*  »  The  trousseau  of  Mademoiselle  Martignon,  who  is  going  to  marry  the 
Baron  de  Montmorenci,  is  to  cost  a  hundred  thousand  crowns  ($110,000). 
There  are  to  be  a  hundred  dozen  of  chemises ;  and  so  on,  in  proportion." — 
French  Newspaper. 


MAN    AND    HIS    HELPMATE.  267 

out  the  kingdom,  to  be  received  as  cause  for  rejoicing  by  the 
poor  man  who  sees  his  wife  or  daughter  dying  for  want  of 
food.  Under  such  circumstances,  it  is  not  extraordinary  that 
in  meeting  three  young  Parisians,  we  should  have  reason 
to  feel  assured  of  the  middle  one  being -a  bastard  :  that  being 
the  proportion  of  illegitimate  to  legitimate  births. 

In  England,  the  position  of  the  sex  has  been  widely  dif- 
ferent. More  than  any  other  portion  of  Europe  has  the  soil 
of  that  country  been  exempt  from  the  horrors  of  war,  the 
effect  of  which  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  the  cottage  of  the  la- 
bourer figures  in  every  portion  of  the  English  landscape, 
affording  the  strongest  evidence  of  the  long  existence  of  in- 
ternal peace.  The  husbandman  has  been  there  exempt  from 
the  necessity  of  seeking  protection  within  the  walls  of  the 
town.  There  he  has,  more  than  in  almost  any  part  of  Eu- 
rope, been  enabled  to  economize  the  machinery  of  exchange 
by  living  on  the  land  that  he- cultivated,  and  thus  has  saved 
the  cost  of  transporting  himself  to  his  work,  and  that  of  trans- 
porting the  products  of  his  labour  to  his  place  of  residence  : 
and,  still  more  important,  he  has  had  a  place  upon  which  he 
might  bestow  those  hours  and  half  hours  that  in  France  are 
necessarily  wasted.  He  has  had  A  HOME  of  his  own,  and 
having  the  thing,  he  has  made  the  word  to  express  the 
idea. 

In  no  part  of  Europe  has  the  feeling  of  perfect  individu- 
ality existed  to  the  same  extent  as  in  England,  and  that  it  has 
there  existed  has  been  due  to  the  fact  that  there,  more  than 
elsewhere,  has  internal  peace  existed,  permitting  man  to  place 
himself  on  the  spot  upon  which  his  labours  were  to  be  ap- 
plied. The  home  of  the  individual  man  required  a  mistress, 
and  the  choice  of  the  man  was  influenced,  necessarily,  by 
the  fact  that  she  was  to  be  his  companion  in  his  home,  dis- 
tant perhaps  from  the  homes  of  other  men,  and  that  he  was 
to  be  dependent  upon  her  kindness  and  affection  for  the  hap- 
piness of  his  life,  and  for  the  care  of  his  children.  Peace 
and  the  growth  of  wealth  tended  therefore  to  give  to  the 


268  MAN   AND    HIS    HELPMATE. 

weak  woman  power  over  the  strong  man :  whereas  war  has, 
in  all  ages,  tended  to  render  her  his  victim. 

With  each  step  in  the  progress  of  wealth  and  population, 
we  may  see  an  improvement  in  the  condition  of  woman,  from 
the  day  when  powerful  barons  contested  the  rights  of  the 
heiress  of  Henry  I.,  and  the  poor  Saxon  neif  was  sold  to 
slavery  in  Ireland  ;  and  that  when  the  daughter  of  Torquil 
Wolfganger  presided  over  the  revels  of  Front  de  Breuf; 
to  those  in  which  the  throne  was  filled .  by  the  masculine 
Elizabeth :  but  with  the  following  century  came  a  long  pe- 
riod of  internal  war  and  waste,  to  be  followed  by  one 
of  extreme  demoralization ;  that  of  the  reigns  of  Nell 
Gwynn  and  the  Duchesses  of  Portsmouth  and  Cleveland. 
Royal  and  noble  bastards  then  abounded.  From  the  Revolu- 
tion of  1688,  until  wTe  approach  the  close  of  the  last  century, 
wealth  and  population  gradually  increased,  and  the  people 
were  better  fed,  better  clothed,  and  better  lodged  than  in  any 
former  period :  the  effect  of  which  may  be  seen  in  the  im- 
proved condition  of  the  sex.  Many  of  the  abominations 
which  marked  the  early  years  of  the  century  had  passed 
away  before  the  commencement  of  the  great  war.  Kings 
ceased  to  have  mistresses  to  aid  in  the  management  of  the 
affairs  of  state,  and  fleet  marriages  became  less  common. 
With  that  war  and  its  enormous  waste,  we  find,  however,  a 
new  state  of  things.  The  few  now  become  immensely  rich, 
while  the  many  become  poor.  The  price  of  corn  rises,  and 
that  of  man  falls.  Landholders  become  too  great  to  manage 
their  own  affairs,  and  they  must  have  great  tenants,  with 
great  farms.  Cottages  disappear,  and  almshouses  become 
filled.  Labour  ceases  to  yield  food,  and  women  seek  to  have 
bastards  that  they  may  obtain  allowances,  and  thereby  obtain 
husbands.  Indiscriminate  intercourse  becomes  so  common 
as  in  some  degree  to  arrest  the  growth  of  population  ;*  while 

*  It  was  stated  twelve  or  fifteen  years  since  by  a  clergyman :  we  think  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Cunningham:  that  the  morals  of  his  parish  were  improving;  and 
the  reason  given  for  this  belief  was,  that  bastards  had  become  more  numerous, 
from  which  fact  he  inferred  that  indiscriminate  intercourse  had  become  less 
common. 


MAN   AND    HIS   HELPMATE.  269 

thousands  of  children  perish  of  neglect  and  want  of  food. 
Great  club-houses,  and  houses  of  prostitution  increase  in  a 
ratio  corresponding  to  each  other,  and  thus  we  find  that  each 
step  in  the  progress  of  war  and  waste  :  necessarily  accompa- 
nied with  growing  inequality  :  is  attended  with  a  deteriora- 
tion of  the  condition  of  the  sex. 

With  the  long  continued  peace  and  the  consequent  growth 
of  wealth,  there  has  been  a  gradual  improvement  in  the  con- 
dition of  the  sex,  in  England,  but  bondagers,  i.  e.,  female 
field-labourers,  still  figure  in  the  leases  of  Northumbrian  land- 
holders ;  half-starved  women  are  yet  conspicuous  among  the 
habitues  of  gin-shops :  sales  of  wives  with  halters  round 
their  necks  have  not  yet  disappeared :  women  and  girls  still 
labour  in  coal  mines,  and  sometimes  in  a  state  of  perfect 
nudity :  and  adultery  is  not  unfrequently  the  consequence 
of  marriages  in  which  property  and  not  inclination  is  con- 
sulted. A  state  of  society  in  which  exists  inequality  to  the 
extent  to  which  it  is  found  in  England,  is  not  favourable  to 
female  honour.  Heavy  taxes  tend  to  produce  poverty,  and 
mischievous  regulations  bar  men  from  finding  employment, 
and  hence  marriage  is  far  less  universal  than  it  ought  to  be. 
Taxes  and  regulations  tend  to  produce  a  large  class  with  mo- 
ney to  spend,  and  with  no  employment  for  time,  and  hence 
a  disposition  for  gallantry  that  would  not  otherwise  exist. 
The  steady  and  regular  application  of  time  or  talent  is 
the  best  security  for  morals,  and  that  is  invariably  seen 
most  to  exist  where  labour  yields  the  largest  reward.  All 
men  would  marry,  if  all  could  do  so  with  safety  to  them- 
selves. In  such  a  state  of  things,  the  exceptions  are  only 
sufficient  to  prove  the  rule.  The  universal  possession  of 
property  is  the  best  guarantee  for  the  security  of  property ; 
and  the  universal  possession  of  wives  and  families  is  the  best 
security  for  morals ;  for  husbands  and  fathers  are  interested 
in  the  repression  of  every  thing  tending  to  promote  immo- 
rality. 

In  Scotland,  improvement  would  appear  to  be  less  certain. 
23* 


270  MAN -AND    HIS    HELPMATE. 

f- 

There,  entails  increase  in  number.  There,  sheep  have  taken 
the  place  of  men  whose  cottages  have  been  burned,  and  who 
have  been  compelled  to  seek  refuge  within  towns  and  cities : 
and  with  their  homes  the  sex  has  been  compelled  to  lose 
the  pride  of  female  honour.  Glasgow  presents  a  scene  of 
wretchedness  rarely  equalled  among  civilized  men,  and  houses 
of  prostitution  exist  in  the  ratio  of  one  to  twenty-eight ! 
Such  are  the  results  of  the  increasing  power  of  land,  and 
diminishing  power  of  man. 

Perpetual  peace  abroad  and  at  home  has  given  to  the 
United  States  constantly  increasing  wealth,  and  every  man 
has  been  thereby  enabled  to  feel  that  he  may  marry  without 
hesitation.  All,  therefore,  do  marry;  and  hence  the  rapid 
increase  of  population :  and  hence  the  general  morality. 
Bastardy  is  rare.  If  we  seek  to  find  it,  it  must  be  among 
the  people  who  cultivate  the  poorer  soils.  Thirty  years 
since,  it  abounded  among  the  Germans  of  Pennsylvania, 
who  raised  small  crops  from  the  heavy  clay ;  and  then  women 
laboured  in  the  fields :  but  it  has  gradually  diminished  as 
population  and  wealth  have  grown,  and  as  they  have  been 
enabled  to  combine  the  inferior  lime  with  the  superior  clay, 
and  have  thus  obtained  a  better  soil.  Receding  gradually, 
it  may  yet  be  found  in  the  counties  more  distant  from  the 
city,  where  a  scattered  population  still  obtain  small  crops 
from  poor  soils.  It  may  be  found  in  all  those  counties  in 
which  poor  farmers  sell  all  their  hay,  and  buy  no  lime.  In 
general,  however,  it  exists  to  a  very  small  extent ;  and  the 
sex,  respecting  themselves  in  a  higher  degree,  are  respected, 
in  a  degree  unknown  to  other  portions  of  the  globe.  Dowry 
is  rarely  thought  of.*  Marriages  de  convenance  scarcely 

*  «  We  buy  our  wives  with  our  fortunes,  or  we  sell  ourselves  to  them  for 
their  dowries.  The  American  chooses  her,  or  rather  offers  himself  to  her  for 
her  beauty,  her  intelligence,  and  the  qualities  of  her  heart;  it  is  the  only 
dowry  which  he  seeks.  Thus,  while  we  make  of  that  which  is  most  sacred 
a  matter  of  business,  these  traders  affect  a  delicacy,  and  an  elevation  of  sen- 
timent, which  would  have  done  honour  to  the  most  perfect  models  of  chi- 
valry.''— Chevalier. 


MAN    AND    HIS    HELPMATE.  271 

exist.  The  marriage  tie  is  held  sacred,*  and  all  because 
each  man  has,  or  can  have,  his  own  home,  within  which 
he  is  sole  master :  except  so  far  as  he  defers  its  management 
to  its  mistress,  whose  control,  within  doors,  is  most  com- 
plete ;  but  there  she  stops. f  Everywhere  is  manifested  to- 
wards the  sex:  old  and  young:  rich  and  poor:  high  and 
low  :  a  degree  of  deference  elsewhere  unthought  of.J  They 
travel,  Unprotected,  for  thousands  of  miles,  fearing  no  intru- 
sion :  and  encountering  none  of  those  discomforts  to  which 
they  are  exposed  in  every  part  of  Europe.  §  With  marriage, 
the  task  of  providing  for  the  family  is  assumed  by  the  husband ; 
and  woman  then  is  left  to  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  the 
household,  and  the  care  of  her  children :  and  everywhere  the 
labour  incident  to  the  performance  of  those  duties  is  lightened 
by  improved  machinery.  ||  In  no. part  of  the  Union,  however, 
is  she  seen  to  the  same  advantage  as  in  Massachusetts,  where 
man  derives  from  the  cultivation  of  a  naturally  sterile  soil  re- 

*  "  You  may  estimate  the  morality  of  any  population,  when  you  have  ascer- 
tained that  of  the  women ;  and  one  cannot  contemplate  American  society 
without  admiration  for  the  respect  which  there  encircles  the  tie  of  marriage. 
The  same  sentiment  existed  to  a  like  degree  among  no  nations  of  antiquity  ; 
and  the  existing  societies  of  Europe,  in  their  corruption,  have  not  even  a  con- 
ception of  such  purity  of  morals." — M.  de  Beaumont. 

"  The  marriage  tie  is  more  sacred  among  American  workmen  than  among 
the  middle  classes  of  various  countries  of  Europe." — Chevalier. 

•f- "  Not  only  does  the  American  mechanic  and  farmer  relieve,  as  much  as 
possible,  his  wife  from  all  severe  labour,  all  disagreeable  employments,  but 
there  is  also,  in  relation  to  them,  and  to  women  in  general,  a  disposition  to 
oblige,  that  is  unknown  among  us,  even  in  men  who  pique  themselves  upon 
cultivation  of  mind  and  literary  education." — Chevalier. 

t "  One  of  the  first  peculiarities  that  must  strike  a  foreigner  in  the  United 
States  is  the  deference  paid  universally  to  the  sex,  without  regard  to  rank  or 
station." — Lyell. 

§  «  We  have  allowed  the  administration  of  the  customs  to  adopt  practices 
unworthy  of  a  civilized  nation.  It  is  inexplicable  that  they  should  have  im- 
posed upon  the  French,  who  believe  themselves  the  most  polished  nation  of 
the  earth,  rules,  in  virtue  of  which  their  wives  and  daughters  are  personally 
examined  and  felt,  in  filthy  holes  and  corners,  by  female  furies.  These  scan- 
dalous brutalities  of  the  agents  of  the  treasury  are  inexcusable,  for  they  pro- 
duce nothing  to  the  revenue." — Chevalier. 

||  "  The  inventive  spirit  of  the  people  of  New  England,  and  of  their  de- 
scendants throughout  the  Union,  is  displayed  in  the  production  of  machinery 
for  economizing  the  time  and  labour  of  their  wives." — Chevalier. 


272  MAN    AN!)    ins    HELPMATE. 

turns  to  labour  unknown  to  those  who  cultivate  the  prairies  of 
the  West :  and  where  may  be  seen,  congregating  in  thousands, 
female  operatives  among  whom  bastardy  is  unknown.  The 
greatest  of  all  the  moral  phenomena  of  the  world  is  to  be 
found  in  the  city  of  Lowell,  and  the  enlightened  traveller 
will  find  in  its  examination  abundant  compensation  for  a  fail- 
ure of  his  visit  to  Niagara.* 

With  each  step  in  our  progress  south,  men  cultivate  poorer 
soils,  and  the  power  of  combination  diminishes;  and  with 
each  such  step  the  value  of  female  labour,  and  the  power  of 
woman  to  provide  for  and  defend  herself,  diminishes,  until 
we  find  her  and  her  children  becoming  the  property  of  an- 
other. That  all  may  become  free,  and  that  woman  every- 
where may  acquire  power  over  her  own  actions,  determin- 
ing for  herself  who  she  will  marry  and  who  she  will  not ; 
that  she  may  everywhere  obtain  a  home  in  which  to  devote 
herself  to  the  performance  of  those  duties  for  which  she  was 
intended  ;  the  happy  wife  becoming  the  mother  of  children 
educated  to  be  useful  to  themselves,  their  parents,  and  socie- 
ty :  it  is  essential  that  wealth  should  be  permitted  to  increase. 
It  does  increase  most  rapidly  where  men  cultivate  the  most 
fertile  soils  ;  and  that  those  soils  may  be  cultivated,  com- 
bination of  action  is  indispensable.  The  consumer  must  take 
his  place  by  the  side  of  the  producer.  With  each  step  of 
increase  in  the  density  of  population,  the  power  of  combina- 
tion increases,  the  consumer  and  the  producer  being  enabled 


*  "  The  factories  at  Lowell  are  not  only  on  a  great  scale,  but  have  been  so 
managed  as  to  yield  high  profits,  a  fact  which  should  be  impressed  on  the 
mind  of  every  foreigner  who  visits  them,  lest  after  admiring  the  gentility  of 
manner  and  address  of  the  women,  he  should  go  away  with  the  idea  that  he 
had  been  seeing  a  model  mill,  or  a  set  of  gentlemen  and  ladies  playing  at  a 
factory  for  their  amusement." — Lyell. 

"  Morning  and  evening,  and  at  meal  times,  seeing  them  passing  in  the 
streets,  well  dressed,  and  again,  seeing  suspended  on  the  walls  of  the  facto- 
ries, among  the  vases  of  flowers,  and  the  shrubs  which  they  cultivate,  their 
scarfs,  and  their  shawls,  and  the  hoods  of  green  silk  with  which  they  envelope 
their  heads,  to  secure  them  from  the  heat  and  dust  in  walking,  I  said  to  my- 
self, This  is  not  Manchester." — Chevalier. 


MAN    AND    HIS    HELPMATE.  273 

more  and  more  to  place  themselves  by  the  side  of  each  other. 
Population  and  wealth  increase  most  rapidly  where  women 
are  most  chaste,  and  where  they  are  most  chaste  they  are 
most  valued  :  whereas,  where  neither  population  nor  wealth 
is  permitted  to  increase,  woman  is,  and  must  ever  be,  a  slave 
and  a  prostitute  ;  and  man  a  barbarian,  cultivating  the  poor- 
est soils. 

The  PAST  says  to  the  sovereign  of  the  PRESENT  :  "  If  you 
desire  that  woman  should  occupy  the  position  for  which  she 
was  intended  by  her  Creator :  cultivate  peace." 

To  the  landlord  it  says :  "  If  you  desire  that  your  lands 
shall  become  valuable :  avoid  war,  and  permit  wealth  to  in- 
crease, that  woman  may  be  chaste  and  population  grow." 

To  the  labourer  it  says  :  "  If  you  desire  that  the  honour  of 
your  wife  and  daughter  be  respected  :  .labour  to  promote  the 
maintenance  of  peace." 

To  woman  it  says  :  "  If  you  would  be  a  happy  wife,  mis- 
tress of  your  own  home,  and  surrounded  by  your  children  : 
love  those  who  cultivate  peace." 


274  MAN    AND    HIS    FAMILY. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

MAN     AND     HIS     FAMILY. 

THE  savage,  deriving  from  the  poor  soils  a  wretched  and 
precarious  subsistence,  and  compelled  to  change  his  place 
from  day  to  day,  sees  in' the  birth  of  a  child  but  an  addition 
to  his  burthens,  and  but  for  the  affection  of  the  mother,  few, 
particularly  of  the  weaker  sex,  would  live  a  single  day. 
The  child,  in  turn,  arrived  at  maturity,  sees  in  the  parent 
but  a  useless  consumer  of  the  small  stock  of  food,  and 
leaves  him  to  perish  in  the  desert ;  or  exposes  him  on  the 
river  bank,  there  to  die  the  lingering  death  of  starvation,  or 
to  become  food  for  tigers :  or,  more  mercifully,  buries  him 
alive,  and  thus  terminates  at  once  a  life  of  tyranny  over 
others,  that  has  been  productive  of  little  but  wretchedness  to 
himself. 

The  man  who  cultivates  the  rich  soils  of  the  earth  rejoices 
in  the  birth  of  his  child.  The  great  machine  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  which  he  is  engaged,  yields  to  his  labour  a  daily 
increasing  recompense,  and  with  each  addition  to  his  family 
he  finds  a  more  rapid  increase  of  his  wealth.  Food  increases 
more  rapidly  than  mouths  to  consume  it :  and  with  each 
addition  to  their  number,  he  finds  himself  enabled  to  devote 
more  and  more  of  his  attention  to  the  study  of  their  cha- 
racters and  the  formation  of  their  minds,  with  a  view  to 
making  them  good  sons,  preparatory  to  their  becoming 
good  and  useful  citizens.  He  unites  with  his  neighbours 
for  the  establishment  of  schools,  and  colleges,  and  libra- 
ries ;  and  he  economizes  his  own  expenses,  that  they  may 
want  none  of  the  training  required  to  enable  them  to 
fill,  usefully  to  themselves  and  beneficially  to  the  commu- 


MAN    AND    HIS    FAMILY.  275 

nity,  the  station,  be  it  what  it  may,  in  which  they  shall  be 
placed.  The  child,  in  turn,  desires  to  aid  the  parent. 
Arrived  at  manhood,  he  remembers  that  in  his  youth  his 
feelings  and  his  rights  had  been  respected,  and  he  now  pays 
the  debt  incurred  in  infancy,  respecting  in  his  parent  the 
rights  that,  in  his  turn,  he  would  have  respected  in  him- 
self. 

By  nothing  is  the  progress  of  mankind  in  population  and 
wealth  made  more  manifest  than  by  the  change  in  the  relation 
of  parent  and  child.  In  the  infancy  of  cultivation  the  one  is 
a  tyrant  and  the  other  a  slave  ;  but  with  each  step  in  the  pro 
gress  of  civilization,  we  find  a  tendency  towards  equality  ol 
condition,  each  learning  more  and  more  to  regard  the  other 
as  a  companion  and  friend,  differing  in  age,  but  equally 
labouring  for  the  common  good  :  the  father  granting  to  the 
son  the  benefit  of  his  experience,  while  the  son  contri- 
butes as  far  as  in  his  power  lies,  to  the  performance  of  the 
labours  required  for  the  great  object  of  maintaining  and  im- 
proving their  common  condition. 

The  Spartans  lived  on  the  produce  of  the  poor  soils,  cul- 
tivated by  slaves.  The  child,  if  unfit  to  become  a  warrior, 
was  destroyed.  If  saved,  it  was  the  property  of  the  State. 
The  parent  acquired  no  claims  upon  the  affections  of  his  son, 
and  the  latter,  arrived  at  maturity,  felt  that  he  had  no  debt 
to  pay. 

In  the  earlier  and  happier  days  of  Rome,  men  drew  large 
supplies  of  food  from  the  rich  soils,  and  then  fathers  and 
children  were  friends  ;  but  with  tyranny  abroad  comes  tyranny 
at  home,  and  the  fierce  warrior  is  seen  exercising  over  his 
son  the  power  of  life  and  death.  With  the  gradual  progress 
of  decline,  family  hatreds  grow,  and  husbands  and  wives, 
fathers,  and  sons,  and  daughters,  are  seen  engaged  in  deadly 
strife.  With  each  step  land  becomes  more  and  more  con- 
solidated, and  man  becomes  more  weak :  and  with  each  is 
seen  the  growth  of  family  hatred.  Constantine  murders 
his  son.  Constans,  Constantius,  and  Constantine  contend 


276  MAN    AND    HIS    FAMILY. 

for  the  empire  of  the  world :  but  as  that  empire  diminishes 
in  extent,  we  see  mothers  murdering  sons,  and  brothers  de- 
posing and  blinding  brothers,  the  bitterness  of  hate  growing 
with  the  abandonment  of  the  fertile  lands,  and  the  increasing 
worthlessness  of  the  prize. 

Throughout  the  eastern  world,  where  poor  men  cultivate 
the  poorest  soils,  we  see  a  perpetual  series  of  family  dis- 
cords. Fathers  are  deposed  and  blinded  by  their  sons : 
sons  are  murdered  by  fathers  :  and  brothers  are  assassi- 
nated by  brothers.  In  the  lower  walks  of  life,  we  may- 
see  the  poor  Hindoo,  old  and  unable  to  labour,  exposed 
upon  the  banks  of  the  Ganges  by  order  of  sons  who,  anxious 
to  prevent  increase  in  the  number  of  useless  mouths,  destroy 
their  own  children  :  although  surrounded  by  the  most  fertile 
lands,  waiting  but  for  the  growth  of  population  and  of 
wealth  to  yield  ample  supplies  of  food  and  of  all  other  of 
the  necessaries  of  life. 

In  modern  Italy,  with  the  diminution  of  population  and 
of  wealth,  and  the  abandonment  of  the  rich  soils  of  the  Cam- 
pagna,  we  see  nunneries  innumerable,  rilled  with  unwilling 
daughters  forced  to  undergo  a  living  death  for  the  benefit  of 
sons  who  indulge  themselves  in  uncontrolled  license  among 
the  unfortunate  women  of  plundered  towns  and  cities,  driven 
to  prostitution  for  the  support  of  life.  There,  too,  we  find 
murders  and  poisonings  among  fathers,  brothers,  sons,  and 
nephews.  Poverty  produces  everywhere  repulsion  and  hate, 
and  where  it  exists  family  affection  can  but  rarely  find  a 
place. 

In  the  rapidly  growing  Holland,  and  in  the  Netherlands  of 
the  middle  ages,  we  meet  a  better  state  of  things.  There, 
increasing  wealth  facilitated  the  cultivation  of  the  various 
soils,  and  the  producer  and  consumer  were  enabled  to  place 
themselves  side  by  side.  Population  grew,  and  with  it  the 
demand  for  labour.  The  parent  saw  in  the  child  the  future 
support  of  his  age,  and  the  child,  grown  to  manhood,  remem- 
bered the  debt  contracted  in  his  youth. 


MAN    AND    HIS    FAMILY.  277 

France,  always  at  war,  and  always  poor,  has  restricted 
herself  to  the  cultivation  of  the  worst  soils.  Her  men  were 
ever  in  the  field,  engaged  in  the  duties  of  their  vocation: 
in  the  Netherlands,  Germany,  or  Hungary :  in  Spain, 
Piedmont,  the  Milanese,  Naples,  or  Sicily :  while  at  home 
their  wives  were  the  prey  of  bands  of  ecorcheurs,  and  of  rob- 
bers of  every  nation,  invited  alternately  by  the  Bourguignon 
and  the  Armagnac :  the  Leaguer  and  the  royalist :  the  sove- 
reign and  the  rebellious  noble.  Of  the  children  who  were 
born,  a  large  proportion  perished  in  their  infancy.  Wealth 
and  population  were  sometimes  stationary,  while  at  other 
times  they  went  backward.  At  others,  they  advanced,  yet 
slowly :  and  the  result  of  a  long  series  of  ages  is,  that  she 
presents  still  to  view  a  scattered  population  engaged  in  cul- 
tivating the  poorest  soils.  The  feeling  of  «  home"  has  had 
no  existence.  The  foundling  hospital  repeats  the  story  of 
Sparta.  Few  children  are  born,  and  of  them  but  one-half 
attain  maturity,  then  to  be  taken  from  their  parents,  to  seek, 
in  the  fields  of  Germany,  of  Russia,  or  of  Algeria,  the  means 
of  subsistence :  and  that  at  the  moment  when  the  habits  of 
life  are  to  become  fixed.  The  parent  hopes  little  from  the 
son,  whose  first  duty  is  to  that  portion  of  society  which  governs 
the  rest,  and  calls  itself  ".the  State."  He  does,  therefore, 
little  for  him.  He  gives  him  hard  work,  and  no  instruction.* 


*  "  Frugality  in  Nantes,  with  the  labouring  classes,  is  the  effect  of  necessi- 
ty more  than  virtue.  Drunkenness  is  common,  and  temperance  is  almost  a 
stranger  to  them.  In  the  country  it  is  nearly  as  bad ;  nine  out  of  ten  of  the* 
little  farmers  who  come  to  this  market,  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays,  and  par- 
ticularly at  the  fairs,  return  home  in  a  state  of  intoxication.  The  life  led  by 
them  when  on  military  duty,  from  the  age  of  twenty  to  twenty-eight,  most 
certainly  demoralizes  them.  *  *  To  prevent  the  increase  and  lessen  the 
state  of  disorder  into  which  the  greater  part  of  the  labouring  class  and  me- 
chanics of  Nantes  has  fallen,  a  number  of  master  tradesmen  and  proprietors 
of  factories  will  not  employ  those  men  who  do  not  agree  to  allow  a  certain 
sum  weekly  to  be  retained  from  their  wages  for  the  use  of  the  wife  and  fami- 
ly The  example  spreads,  and  will,  no  doubt,  become  more  general ;  but  this 
circumstance  also  shows  forth,  in  strong  colours,  the  immoral  state  of  the 
working  class  in  France." — Report  on  La  Loire  Inferieure,  by  H.  Newman,  H. 
£.  M.  Consul,  to  the  Commissioners  on  the  Poor  Laws. 

24 


278  MAN    AND    HIS   FAMILY. 

The  son,  in  turn,  remembers  the  lessons  of  his  youth.  He 
neglects  his  parent,  and  tyrannizes  over  his  child.*  As  a 
natural  consequence,  crime  in  families  abounds.  Poverty 
instigates  to  murder,  and  parents  perish  by  the  hands  of  chil- 
dren by  descent  or  marriage  :  wives  by  those  of  husbands, 
and  husbands  by  those  of  wives,  to  an  extent  unknown  in 
the  other  countries  of  Europe  :  the  natural  result  of  unceasing 
war  and  waste.  It  is  not,  however,  to  the  lower  sphere  of 
life  alone  that  we  must  look  for  such  events.  Extreme  in- 
equality of  condition  tends  to  the  production  of  crime  among 
the  highest  as  well  as  among  the  most  lowly.  The  starving 
wretch  seeks  food  on  the  highway,  -while  the  marshal  seeks . 
in  the  plunder  of  cities  the  means  with  which  to  indulge  his 
passion  for  display.  Both  are  equally  criminal,  and  both 
equally  the  offspring  of  war.  The  world  now  rings  with  the 
Praslin  tragedy,  but  thousands  of  cases  less  patent  to  the 
world,  might  be  produced  to  show  how  small  is  the  extent 
to  which  the  feeling  of  attachment  to  home,  or  family,  exists 
throughout  the  population  of  France.  The  system  forbids 
its  existence. 

England  has  grown  rich  and  populous.  She  has  cultivated 
far  better  soils,  and  there  has  the  feeling  of  attachment  to 
home  and  family  been  more  fully  exhibited  than  in  most  other 
portions  of  Europe.  Nevertheless,  the  provisions  for  main- 
taining the  concentration  of  land,  by  which  the  progress  of 
cultivation  has  been  so  much  arrested,  have  equally  tended 
to  discourage  the  growth  of  harmony  in  families.  The  father 
feels  himself  a  life-renter,  and  he  is  jealous  of  the  rights  of 
Ids  son.  The  son  watches  the  movements  of  his  father,  and 
a  chancery  injunction  stays  the  parent  engaged  in  the  com- 

*  "  Experience  proves  that  most  workmen,  who  are  fathers  of  families,  will 
only  consent  to  send  their  children  to  school  during  the  years  when  they  can  earn 
absolutely  nothing,  and  that  they  are  withdrawn  as  soon  as  their  weak  arms 
will  enable  them  to  earn  a  few  centimes,  and  that  it  is  to  this  deplorable  abuse 
of  paternal  power,  goaded  by  poverty,  that  we  should  attribute  the  moral  and 
physical  weakness  that  is  here  exhibited  at  all  stages  of  life." — Report  of  the 
Prefect  of  the  Department  of  the  North. 


MAN    AND    HIS    FAMILY.  279 

mission  of  acts  of  waste.  Younger  sons  see  in  the  elder 
brother  a  rich  man,  made  so  by  the  accident  of  priority  of 
birth,  and  they  feel  themselves  to  be  poor  and  dependent  on 
his  bounty.  Wives  become  poor  at  the  death  of  husbands, 
while  sons  are  made  rich.  Mothers  of  great  sons  spend  their 
last  years  in  the  great  almshouse  for  decayed  nobles,  Hamp- 
ton Court.*  The  system  retards  the  development  of  the 
powers  of  the  earth,  and  the  growth  of  intellect :  and  pre- 
vents the  existence  of  family  affection :  and  all  because  it 
tends  to  the  maintenance  of  inequality  of  condition.  To 
that  inequality  it  is  due  that  we  see  so  great  a  body  of  the 
"  uneasy  class"  of  younger  sons  side  by  side  with  vast 
wealth.  Thence  arises  the  general  thirst  for  office  among 
men  whose  abilities  would  qualify  them  to  work  with  advan- 
tage to  themselves,  their  families,  and  their  countrymen, 
were  a  way  opened  for  them ;  but  who  are  compelled  to  soli- 
cit favours  at  home,  or  to  seek  in  the  cultivation  of  the  poor 
soils  of  Canada  or  of  Australia  that  support  which  would  be 
afforded  in  vast  abundance  by  the  rich,  but  undivided  and 
therefore  undeveloped,  soils  at  home.  Still  more  strongly  is 
this  the  case  in  Scotland.  There,  entails  abound.  Through- 
out half  the  kingdom  the  rich  soils  lie  unimproved,  while 
poor  men  cultivate  the  poor  ones.  Scotchmen  emigrate  in 
shoals  to  Canada ;  some  of  their  own  motion,  but  thousands 
at  the  order  of  their  landlords,  in  whose  hands  accumulate 
immense  estates,  while  impoverished  daughters  and  sisters, 
reared  to  affluence  and  unable  to  work,  hide  their  diminished 
heads  in  poor  villages,  thankful  if  their  little  allowances  suf- 
fice to  preserve  them  from  starvation.  Family  pride  abounds  : 
but -there,  as  everywhere,  the  affection  of  the  family  is  in  the 
inverse  ratio  of  its  pride — or  vanity. 

Throughout  Great  Britain,  restrictions  on  land  have  tended 
to  render  man  superabundant,  and  to  compel  him  to  seek 


*  Such  was  the  case  with  the  lady  who  was  mother  to  Lords  Wellington, 
Wellesley,  Mornington,  and  Cowley. 


280  MAN    AND    HIS    FAMILY. 

employment  from  manufacturers  whose  markets  were  uncer- 
tain, and  whose  wages  were  not  unfrequently  altogether  sus- 
pended. Labour  has  overflowed,  and  wives  have  been  compel- 
led to  abandon  the  care  of  their  families,  and  to  seek  support 
in  factory  and  colliery  work :  while  children  have  been  taxed 
far  beyond  their  powers,  to  produce  wages  to  be  expended 
in  dissipation  by  their  parents.  The  history  of  both  wives 
and  children,  as  developed  in  the  recent  reports  to  Par- 
liament, is  an  awful  one,  and  tends  to  show  how  abso- 
lutely the  feelings  of  family  affection  may  be  blunted  by  the 
working  of  an  unsound  system.  Throughout  the  whole 
island,  there  is  now  an  universal  demand  for  more  wages 
and  less  work  :  and  Parliament,  which  has  already  interfered 
to  compel  the  parents  to  do  that  which  parental  affection  has 
failed  to  prompt  them,  is  now  called  upon  to  interfere  between 
the  employer  and  the  employed,  of  all  ages ;  while  the  former 
sees  ruin  in  the  prospect  of  any  reduction  in  the  labours  of 
the  latter.  That  such  interferences  should  be  needed  is  evi- 
dence abundant  of  the  unsoundness  of  the  system  to  which 
it  owes  its  rise.  Were  man  permitted  to  develope  the  powers 
of  the  earth,  he  would  acquire  power  over  his  own  actions, 
and  would  then  determine  for  himself  the  hours  of  labour, 
without  the  aid  of  Parliament.  Every  step  towards  perfect 
freedom  in  the  actual  possessor  of  land  is  a  step  towards 
freedom  in  man.  The  fruits  of  the  tree  of  Scotch  and  Eng- 
lish entails  are  agricultural  paupers,  starving  operatives,  over- 
worked children,  and  "uneasy"  ladies  and  gentlemen — 
younger  brothers  and  sisters. 

In  the  United  States,  where  all  marry,  all  see  the  increase 
in  the  numbers  of  their  families  without  alarm.  The  growth 
of  wealth  so  far  exceeds  that  of  population,  that  the  demand 
for  labour  is  constantly  in  advance  of  the  supply.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  natural  increase  the  immigration  from  abroad  grows 
with  each  successive  year,  and  the  demand  advances  with  its 
growth,  for  each  producer  is  a  consumer:  and  each  makes  him- 
self a  market  for  much  of  the  products  of  his  own  labour,  while 


MAN    AND    HIS   FAMILY.  281 

consuming  a  portion  of  the  products  of  his  neighbours.  Such 
is  even  now  the  case,  but  it  would  have  been  at  all  times  still 
more  strongly  felt  had  not  the  erroneous  policy  of  England 
forced  men  to  seek  the  west  who  might  have  been  so  much 
more  advantageously  employed  in  the  east.  With  each  step  in 
their  progress,  men  cultivate  better  soils,  obtaining  increased 
returns  to  labour:  and  hence  the  steady  increase  in  the  quan- 
tity of  the  comforts  and  conveniences  of  life  at  the  command 
of  the  labourer,  accompanied  with  a  steady  increase  in  the 
inducement  to  the  exertion  of  the  physical  and  mental  facul- 
ties. The  father  works  that  the  children  may  be  clothed 
and  educated,  and  when  the  proper  time  arrives  they  work 
for  themselves,  but  not  till  then.  How  great  are  the  exer- 
tions of  parents  for  the  education  of  their  children  may  be 
seen  from  the  fact  that  in  the  public  schools  of  New  York 
may  be  found  one-fourth  of  the  whole  population  of  the  state  : 
while  in  the  libraries  belonging  to  those  schools  may  be  found 
twelve  hundred  thousand  volumes,  accumulated  in  about  a 
dozen  years,  and  now  accumulating  at  the  rate  of  a  hundred 
thousand  in  each  year :  and  were  concentration  on  the  rich  soils 
possible,  the  number  would  soon  be  doubled.  How  small  is  the 
labour  required  from  children  of  immature  years  may  be  seen 
in  the  fact  that  in  the  mills  of  Lowell,  there  are  none  below 
twelve,  while  but  seven  per  cent,  are  below  seventeen :  where- 
as in  England,  before  the  late  interferences,  no  less  than 
thirty-six  per  cent,  were  below  the  latter  age,  while  many 
were  of  such  exceedingly  tender  years  as  to  render  their  long 
continued  employment  in  the  manner  described  destructive 
of  all  powrer  of  development ;  and  hence  the  numerous  crip- 
ples. Such,  likewise,  is  the  case  in  France,  in  some  of 
whose  manufacturing  departments,  almost  two-fifths  are  ex- 
empted from  the  conscription  because  of  bodily  ailments.* 

*  «  The  paupers  are  described  as  consisting  of  weavers,  unable  at  times  to 
gupport  their  families,  and  wholly  chargeable  to  public  or  private  charity  in 
case  of  illness,  scarcity,  or  discharge  from  work  ;  of  workmen,  ignorant,  impro- 
vident, brutified  by  debauchery,  or  enervated  by  manufacturing  labour,  and 

2N  24* 


282  MAN    AND    HIS    FAMILY. 

If  we  compare  with  the  coal  mines  of  England  those  of 
Pennsylvania,  we  see  similar  differences.  In  the  first,  we 
see  girls  and  boys,  sometimes  of  very  tender  age,  and  some- 
times working,  together  in  a  state  of  absolute  nudity;  whereas, 
in  the  second,  we  see  few  boys,  and  none  but  those  that  are 
fully  competent  to  the  labour  at  which  they  are  employed.  In 
no  part  of  the  wrorld,  therefore,  are  children  so  soon  fitted  to 
provide  for  themselves,  because  in  none  is  the  parent  in  so 
great  a  degree  the  companion  of  the  child ;  and  consequently 
in  none  are  the  faculties  of  the  latter  so  early  developed.  In 
the  relation  of  parent  and  child  there  exists,  therefore,  the 
strongest  tendency  to  harmony,  while  in  that  of  the  children 
with  each  other  there  is  little  room  for  cause  of  difference. 
In  the  eye  of  the  law,  all  are  equal.  If  there  be  property  to 
be  divided,  any  inequality  of  division  must  be  a  consequence  of 
favour  on  the  part  of  the  parent,  whose  control  over  that  property 
is,  as  it  should  be,  absolute :  and  all  have  therefore  reason  to 
cultivate  his  good  opinion.  Throughout  the  whole  country, 
there  prevails,  however,  a  feeling  of  independence,  and  a  con- 
sciousness of  ability  to  rise,  which  forbid  that  sons  should  ve- 
getate while  waiting  for  the  division  of  the  father's  land  :  and 
there  is,  consequently,  less  of  what  is  sometimes  termed 
"waiting  for  dead  men's  shoes,"  and  less  wrangling  about 
the  partition  of  estates  than  in  any  country  of  the  world : 
although  the  amount  now  annually  divided  is  fully  equal  to 
that  of  the  United  Kingdom,  if  not  even  greater. 

With  each  step  in  the  passage  from  the  poor  to  the  fertile 
soils,  man  acquires  more  power  over  his  own  actions,  and 
a  more  perfect  consciousness  of  his  rights,  accompanied  by 
a  corresponding  sense  of  his  duties.  As  the  power  of  con- 
centration and  of  combination  of  action  increases,  labour  is 

habitually  unable  to  support  their  families ;  of  aged  persons,  prematurely  in- 
firm, and  abandoned  by  their  children ;  of  children  and  orphans,  a  great  num- 
ber of  whom  labour  under  incurable  disease  or  deformity  ;  and  of  numerous  fa- 
milies of  hereditary  paupers  and  beggars  heaped  together  in  loathsome  cellars 
and  garrets,  and  for  the  most  part  subject  to  infirmities,  and  addicted  to  brutal 
vice  and  depravity.  See  yilleneuve :  Econmnie  Chretienne. 


MAN    AND    HIS    FAMILY.  283 

more  largely  paid :  and  each  step  is  marked  by  an  increase 
in  the  power  of  the  parent  to  perform  his  duties  to  the  child, 
and  a  diminishing  necessity  on  the  part  of  the  child  for  the 
performance  of  those  duties,  in  case  of  death  or  accident  to 
the  parent :  while  each  is  marked  by  an  increasing  power 
on  the  part  of  the  child  to  aid  the  parent,  and  a  diminishing 
necessity  on  that  of  the  latter  for  depending  on  such  aid. 
Their  union  becomes  more  and  more  voluntary,  and  is, 
therefore,  on  both  sides,  more  and  more  marked  by  the  per- 
formance of  duties,  and  the  respect  for  rights. 

The  PAST  says  to  the  parent  of  the  PRESENT  :  "If  you  de- 
sire to  do  justice  to  all  your  children:  strive  for  the  main- 
tenance of  peace.  With  peace  come  wealth  and  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  more  fertile  soils :  and  with  them  comes  the 
division  of  land,  by  aid  of  which  your  sons  and  daughters 
will  be  enabled  to  marry  and  settle  near  you,  and  you  will 
be  surrounded  by  happy  families  of  children  and  grand- 
children." 

To  the  children  it  says :  "  If  you  desire  to  remain  with 
your  parents,  and  to  have  your  children,  in  turn,  remain 
with  you  :  strive  for  the  maintenance  of  peace." 

To  all  it  says :  « Family  affection  is  inconsistent  with 
war,  and  preparation  for  war :  for  with  these  come  taxes, 
and  poverty,  and  dispersion  over  the  poor  soils  of  the 
earth." 


284  CONCENTRATION    AND    CENTRALIZATION. 


CHAPTER  X. 

CONCENTRATION  AND  CENTRALIZATION. 

THE  people  of  the  Happy  Valley  commenced  the  work  of 
cultivation  on  the  sides  of  the  hills  by  which  it  was  shut  in 
from  the  world.  Could  we  have  had  a  view  of  them  in  the 
early  stages  of  the  settlement,  we  should  have  seen  a  few  fami- 
lies on  the  various  sides,  north,  south,  east,  and  west,  culti- 
vating the  thin  soils,  and  deriving  from  their  labour  a  slender 
subsistence,  while  below  the  rich  soils  were  covered  with 
magnificent  trees,  through  which  rolled  a  beautiful  stream. 
Intercourse  between  the  families  must  have  been  impossible, 
except  by  keeping  round  the  sides  of  the  hills,  themselves 
very  frequently  indented  by  ravines  also  filled  with  trees,  and 
hence  all  intercourse  must  have  been  attended  with  severe 
labour.  By  slow  degrees  we  find  them,  however,  working 
downward,  and  all  looking  inward  toward  the  banks  of  the 
little  stream.  Population  increases  and  cultivation  extends 
itself,  and  the  young  people  desire  to  meet  together ;  and 
marriages  take  place  ;  and  exchanges  arise  ;  and  places  of 
exchange  are  needed ;  and  farmer's  sons  become  black- 
smiths and  tanners,  and  shoemakers,  and  tailors,  and  hatters, 
and  carpenters,  and  masons,  and  weavers ;  and  thus,  by 
degrees,  a  town  arises  :  and  now  we  see  a  little  community 
perfect  in  itself,  and  capable  of  advancing  in  civilization 
were  it  to  have  intercourse  with  none  other  in  the  world. 

If  now  we  enter  the  home  of  one  of  these  happy  farmers, 
we  find  him  also  turning  his  eyes  inward.  His  wife,  his 
children,  his  farm,  his  cattle,  and  his  house,  stand  first  in  his 
thoughts.  In  these  it  is  that  he  finds  his  happiness.  We 


CONCENTRATION  AND  CENTRALIZATION.        285 

• 

should,  however,  greatly  err  if  we  supposed  the  man  whose 
thoughts  are  thus  concentrated  upon  his  home  to  be  inca- 
pable of  associating  with  his  fellow  men,  or  to  be  in  any  degree 
incapacitated  for  so  doing.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  because 
of  his  combination  with  them  that  he  is  enabled  to  exercise 
the  power  of  concentration.  The  miller  is  near  him,  and  he 
is  not  obliged  to  travel  abroad  with  his  grain  when  he  desires 
to  have  it  converted  into  flour.  His  near  neighbours  are 
the  tanner,  the  shoemaker,  the  hatter  and  the  butcher,  and 
he  is  in  the  habit  of  daily  intercourse  with  them.  He  dis- 
cusses with  them  and  writh  others  of  his  fellow-citizens,  the 
laying  out  of  roads  ;  the  arrangements  of  the  little  and  grow- 
ing town ;  the  building  of  churches ;  the  institution  of 
schools  and  little  libraries  for  his  children,  and  the  formation 
of  a  library  for  their  own  joint  use  :  and  he  combines  with 
them  in  all  the  arrangements  for  the  maintenance  of  perfect 
security  of  person  and  property  ;  for  the  settlement  of  differ- 
ences that  may  arise  anfong  their  fellow-citizens  ;  for  the  col- 
lection of  the  contributions  required  for  the  making  of  roads 
and  for  other  purposes ;  and  for  a  vast  variety  of  other  mat- 
ters interesting  to  the  community  at  large.  Combination 
tends  to  promote  security  and  the  growth  of  wealth,  and 
wealth  enables  him  daily  more  and  more  to  concentrate  his 
thoughts  upon  his  home,  and  its  occupants  :  and  this  concen- 
tration, in  its  turn,  promotes  the  growrth  of  wealth,  by  enabling 
him  daily  more  and  more  to  reflect  upon  the  measures  neces- 
sary to  the  advancement  of  the  common  good :  to  devote  his 
leisure  in  aid  of  those  less  fortunate  than  himself:  to  acquire 
knowledge  by  the  study  of  nature,  or  of  books:  and  thus  still 
further  to  advance  the  interests  of  the  society  of  which  he 
has  the  happiness  to  be  a  member.  The  labours  incident 
to  the  performance  of  the  general  business  of  the  society 
are  light,  for  they  are  divided  among  all ;  and  they  cost  little, 
for  they  are  performed  by  the  men  who  have  themselves  to 
contribute  towards  its  payment.  All  work  and  all  pay,  and 
hence  the  work  and  the  pay  fall  lightly  upon  each. 


286 


CONCENTRATION    AND    CENTRALIZATION. 


With  each  step  in  the  extension  of  cultivation  over  the 
fertile  soils  towards  the  foot  of  the  hill,  the  return  to  labour 
increases,  and  means  are  obtained  for  carrying  the  work  of 
cultivation  upwards  towards  the  hill-top.  Rich  lands, 
whose  soil  is  the  accumulation  of  centuries,  furnish  pasture 
for  fine  herds  of  cattle.  Manure  abounds,  for  the  consumer 
has  taken  his  place  by  the  producer.  The  miller,  the  black- 
smith, and  other  mechanics, exchange  their  products  with  the 
farmer,  whose  horses  are  rarely  on  the  road,  but  almost  always 
at  the  plough  :  and  thus,  from  day  to  day,  and  hour  to  hour, 
the  power  of  man  over  land,  and  over  himself,  is  seen  to 
grow,  and  with  each  step  grows  his  love  of  home. 

If,  now,  we  place  ourselves  on  the  hill-top,  we  may  look 
down  into  other  valleys  like  the  first.  In  each  the  work  of 
cultivation  has  commenced  on  the  hill-side :  and  in  each  we 
see  the  eyes  of  its  inhabitants  turned  downwards  towards  the 
rich  lands  that  occupy  the  centre  of  the  little  settlement.  In 
each  we  see  the  attention  of  all  turned  inwards  towards  their 
homes,  and  their  common  home.  In  each  we  see  the  growth 
of  wealth  marked  by  the  extension  of  cultivation  up- 
wards, and  in  each  we  see  the  gradual  advance  of  roads 
towards  the  hill,  or  mountain,  top :  and  among  all  the  com- 
munities of  all  these  little  valleys,  we  see  a  tendency  towards 
the  establishment  of  communication  with  each  other,  for 
purposes  of  trade,  and  for  facilitating  operations  of  common 
interest. 

If,  now,  we  take  a  bird's-eye  view  of  these  various  commu- 
nities, we  shall  see  in  each  an  infinite  number  of  little  pyra- 
mids, with  heights  proportioned  to  their  breadth  and  depth. 
With  the  extension  of  the  breadth  of  cultivation  we  have  seen 
it  rising  in  its  height  until  it  has  advanced  far  up  the  steep 
hill-side  ;  and  on  all  sides  we  see  it  rising  higher  as  it 
sinks  deeper  into  the  fertile  soils  of  the  valley  below.  In 
each  we  see  a  variety  of  schools  surmounted  by  an  aca- 
demy for  the  more  advanced  :  and  that,  as  wealth  and  popu- 
lation shall  increase,  and  academies  shall  become  more  nu- 


CONCENTRATION  AND  CENTRALIZATION.        287 

merous,  and  as  the  love  of  knowledge  sinks  deeper  into  their 
souls,  to  be  itself  surmounted  by  a  college.  In  each  we  see 
the  little  associations  for  purposes  of  general  interest  to  the 
various  sections  of  the  valley,  surmounted  by  a  general  one 
assembled  in  the  little  town,  the  common  centre  of  attraction 
to  the  whole  people. 

With  the  establishment  of  intercourse  among  these  little 
communities,  the  tendency  to  union,  so  well  begun  in  each, 
is  seen  to  spread.  Each  grows  in  wealth  and  population, 
and  intercourse  becomes  more  frequent ;  and  next  we  find 
them  all  combining  for  the  making  of  roads,  or  canals,  the 
founding  of  colleges,  and  other  works  calculated  to  promote 
the  common  good.  The  union  becomes  more  complete  :  and 
rules  are  adopted  for  the  determination  of  the  relations  of  the 
several  communities,  and  of  those  of  the  members  of  each, 
with  each  other :  and  thus  by  degrees  a  government  is  formed. 
General  laws  now  embrace  the  whole  of  the  various  societies 
constituting  this  new  pyramid,  which  now  surmounts  the 
whole. 

If  we  now  look  down  again  into  the  several  societies,  we 
shall  see  that  to  their  members  the  importance  of  these  laws 
diminishes  with  distance.  First  stands  the  home.  Next, 
the  common  home  of  the  original  community :  and,  lastly, 
the  general  home  of  the  several  communities-.  In  the  first,  each 
finds  his  chief  source  of  happiness.  In  the  second,  he  finds 
means  of  augmenting  that  happiness,  by  combination  wilh 
his  neighbours  for  the  maintenance  of  the  roads  in  daily  use 
by  himself  and  them  :  for  the  support  of  schools  required  by 
his  children,  the  library  required  for  himself,  and  the  church 
required  by  his  family.  In  the  third,  he  combines  with  more 
distant  neighbours  for  the  maintenance  of  roads  which  he 

o 

sometimes  uses,  and  for  the  regulation  of  affairs  of  general 
interest,  by  which  he  may  at  times  be  affected  :  whereas  in 
the  regulation  of  those  of  his  own  little  community  he  has  a 
daily  and  hourly  interest :  and  in  those  of  his  own  home,  one 
that  ceases  neither  day  nor  night. 


288        CONCENTRATION  AND  CENTRALIZATION. 

General  laws  are  formed,  but  local  regulations  remain  un- 
touched :  and  thus  each  little  community  preserves  its  perfect 
individuality,  rendered  more  perfect  by  union  with  its  neigh- 
bours ;  for  the  union  of  all  adds  to  the  power  of  each  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  perfect  security  essential  to  the  growth 
of  wealth  and  population,  and  the  further  extension  of  culti- 
vation. Each  has  now  its  own  government  for  all  matters 
appertaining  to  its  members,  while  each  submits  to  general 
rules  for  the  conduct  of  their  people  towards  those  of  the  ad- 
jacent communities.  The  base  of  each  widens,  and  their 
relations  with  each  other  become  more  intimate,  as  better 
soils  are  taken  into  cultivation  :  and  with  each  step  their 
power  of  union  and  their  strength  increase  ;  yet  concentra- 
tion within  the  limits  of  each  becomes  more  and  more  com- 
plete. Each  nowr  has  churches  of  various  denominations. 
Each  has  high  schools,  and  preparatory  schools.  Each  has 
the  fashioner  and  the  producer  by  the  side  of  each  other. 
Each  sees  to  its  own  roads  and  bridges,  and  each  has  its  lo- 
cal court  for  the  settlement  of  differences  among  its  people. 
The  machinery  of  all  this  is  simple,  and  the  cost  is  light;  for 
those  who  look  to  the  affairs  of  the  community  do  so  in  the 
intervals  of  their  own  employments :  and  as  the  people  deter- 
mine for  themselves  whom  and  what  they  will  pay,  they  de- 
sire to  have  little  waste.  In  time,  twenty,  thirty,  fifty,  or  a 
hundred  of  these  little  communities,  at  first  scattered  over 
the  land,  and  separated  by  broad  tracts  of  forest,  and  deep 
and  rapid  rivers  running  through  the  most  fertile  lands :  or 
by  hills  and  mountains :  are  brought  into  connection  writh 
each  other :  and  these  numerous  little  pyramids  now  form  a 
great  pyramid,  or  State.  Perfect  concentration,  however,  still 
exists.  Local  rules  still  govern  local  interests,  and  local 
judges  decide  local  differences.  Local  roads  and  bridges 
are  made  under  the  direction  of  local  officers:  and  local  mills, 
and  shops,  and  factories,  furnish  the  producer  with  mouths  to 
consume  on  the  ground  the  various  products  of  the  earth. 
The  State,  thus  formed,  is  neighbour  to  another  little  State : 


CONCENTRATION  AND  CENTRALIZATION.        289 

and  with  the  further  growth  of  population  and  wealth  inter- 
course arises,  and  a  new  union  is  now  formed ;  each,  however, 
still  preserving  its  local  organization  and  its  laws,  so  far  as 
regards  the  interest  of  its  own  people,  but  adopting  such  as 
may  be  deemed  equitable  in  relation  to  those  of  their  own 
State  with  those  of  the  other.*  Each  grows  again  :  and  within 
each  the  little  pyramids  rise,  increasing  in  height,  and 
breadth,  and  density :  and  again  arise  new  unions  with  other 
and  more  distant  little  States  ;  and  with  each  step  wealth  and 
population  advance  more  rapidly.  The  great  union  acquires 
strength  from  the  increasing  strength  of  the  various  parts  of 
which  it  is  composed ;  and  the  little  unions  acquire  it,  be- 
cause of  the  perfect  concentration  of  their  local  concerns,  by 
means  of  which  each  is  left  to  determine  for  itself  what  to  do, 
and  what  to  omit  doing,  in  regard  to  its  own  business  :  and 
to  do  it  by  persons  selected  by  themselves,  and  to  do  it  eco- 
nomically. With  each  step  in  their  progress  of  wealth  and 
population,  there  is  in  each  little  community  an  increasing 
number  of  persons  possessing  each  his  own  land,  and  his  own 
house,  upon  which  he  concentrates  his  exertions  for  his  own 
physical  improvement ;  and  his  own  wife,  and  his  own  chil- 
dren, in  whom  centre  his  hopes  of  happiness :  and  for  the 
promotion  of  whose  ease,  and  comfort,  and  enjoyment,  he 
is  at  all  times  anxious  to  exert  his  physical  and  intellectual 
faculties.  The  machine  is  simple.  It  moves  of  itself,  for 
each  man  moves  his  share.  The  work  is  done,  yet  it  is 
difficult  to  see  by  whom*  The  labour  is  light,  for  it  is 
done  by  many.  The  strength  is  great :  for  it  has  the  form 
which  all  matter  tends  to  take,  and  which  is,  consequently, 
the  most  natural.  Its  power  of  resistance  is  great.  Its  power 
of  motion  is  small,  and  hence  its  tendency  to  peace. 

Such  is  concentration.  Opposed  thereto  is  centralization. 
The  one  looks  inward,  and  tends  to  promote  a  love  of  home 
and  of  quiet  happiness,  and  a  desire  for  union ;  facilitating 
the  growth  of  wealth  and  the  preparation  of  the  great  machine 
of  production,  and  enabling  man  acquire  a  love  of  books 
20  25 


290        CONCENTRATION  AND  CENTRALIZATION. 

and  a  habit  of  independent  thought  and  action.  Here  each 
man  minds  his  own  business,  and  superintends  the  applica- 
tion of  the  proceeds  of  his  own  labour.  Centralization,  on 
the  contrary,  looks  outward,  and  tends  to  promote  a  love  of 
war  and  discord,  and  a  disrelish  for  home  and  its  pursuits, 
preventing  the  growth  of  wealth,  and  retarding  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  great  machine.  Under  it  men  are  forced  to  move 
in  masses,  governed  by  ministers,  and  generals,  and  admi- 
rals :  and  the  habit  of  independent  thought  or  action  has  no 
existence.  Here  no  man  is  permitted  to  mind  his  own  busi- 
ness, and  no  man  controls  the  application  of  the  proceeds  of 
his  labour.  The  State  manages  every  thing,  and  the  State 
is  composed  of  those  whose  profits  are  derived  from  manag- 
ing the  affairs  of  others. 

Throughout  the  world  has  existed  a  tendency  to  the  con- 
centration of  man,  as  may  be  seen  by  studying  the  progress 
of  Attica  and  of  Greece  generally  :  of  the  cities  of  Latium  : 
of  those  of  the  Netherlands,  and  of  India  :  but  in  the  early 
periods  of  the  history  of  man,  he  is  seen  uniformly  to  have 
been  exceedingly  poor,  and  compelled  to  depend  for  subsist- 
ence on  the  poorest  soils  ;  as  witness  eastern  Argolis,  so  early 
abandoned  :  and  hence  the  perpetual  contests  in  Greece  for 
the  possession  of  little  tracts  of  land  capable  of  yielding  food. 
In  this  fact  may  be  found  the  cause  of  the  difficulty  of  general 
association,  seen  invariably  in  the  early  periods  of  society : 
and  to  this  may  be  traced  the  existence  of  power  on  the  one 
hand,  and  that  of  slavery  on  the  other.  Individual  power 
over  bodies  of  men  has  been,  at  all  times,  and  in  all  nations, 
attended  by  contests  for  the  exercise  of  that  power.  Poverty 
tends  thus  to  produce  foreign  war,  to  increase  poverty,  and 
to  produce  the  concentration  of  land  :  and  this,  in  turn,  tends 
to  produce  civil  war,  to  augment  poverty,  and  to  increase 
the  appetite  for  foreign  wars  ;  as  is  shown  in  the  histories  of 
all  countries,  but  especially  in  those  of  Greece,  Rome,  and 
France.  It  was  reserved  for  later  times,  when  wealth,  mate- 
rial and  intellectual,  more  abounded ;  and  when  men  could 


CONCENTRATION    AND    CENTRALIZATION.  291 

occupy  better  soils  than  those  of  Attica  an  d^  the  eastern  slope 
of  Argolis,  to  exhibit  the  gradual  formation  of  a  community 
in  a  manner  perfectly  natural,  and  almost  undisturbed  by 
foreign  or  domestic  wars. 

France  has  never,  from  the  days  of  Clovjs,  exhibited  any 
material  tendency  to  the  concentration  of  man,  or  of  wealth 
upon  land  :  or  of  the  affections  of  man  upon  either  wife  or 
family.  In  the  early  period  of  her  history,  we  find  barons  in- 
numerable, engaged  in  collecting  men  and  taxes,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  carrying  them  forth  from  their  territories,  to  spread  ruin 
among  their  neighbours.  For  a  brief  period,  we  find  nobles 
and  sovereigns  granting  charters  to  cities  and  towns,  to  en- 
able them  to  acquire  power  to  become  centres  of  their  various 
neighbourhoods,  and  thus  to  bring  the  consumer  to  the  side 
of  the  producer.  Perpetual  war  and  desolation  enfeeble  the 
towns  and  they  gradually  lose  the  few  privileges  they  have 
obtained,  and  the  consumer  and  producer  are  again  separated. 
Great  nobles  and  kings  are  next  seen  gathering  together  all 
of  men  and  wealth  that  can  be  commanded,  and  carrying 
them  forth  into  Italy  and  Spain,  Germany  and  the  Nether- 
lands :  there  to  be  employed  in  the  acquisition  of  power  ovei 
the  wealth  of  other  men.  The  great  city  of  Paris :  great  be- 
cause alone  capable  of  affording  the  slightest  protection  to 
person  and  property,  and  therefore  the  resort,  from  all  parts 
of  the  kingdom,  of  those  who  had  been  plundered  and  de- 
sired to  plunder  in  turn  :  fares  like  the  rest,  and  loses  its  pri- 
vileges. If  the  reader  desire  now  to  see  and  understand  the 
process  by  which  poverty  has  been  maintained  in  France, 
and  the  causes  wrhy  she  still  continues  to  cultivate  poor  soils, 
he  may  study  the  history  of  that  city  in  the  reigns  of  Charles 
VI.  and  VII.,  and  then  satisfy  himself  what  must  have  been 
the  condition  of  the  lesser  cities  of  Amiens  and  Beauvais, 
Aix  and  Thoulouse.  The  rights  of  the  people  have  had  no 
existence.  The  right  to  labour,  even,  was  deemed  to  be 
held  of  the  crown,  and  crown  and  nobles  made  themselves 
the  conduits  by  which  the  population  and  wealth  of  the 


292  CONCENTRATION    AND    CENTRALIZATION. 

kingdom  were  passed  to  foreign  countries.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  a  feeble  attempt  to  establish  local  courts  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  parliament  of  Paris,  we  meet,  for  centuries,  with 
no  attempt  at  the  local  concentration  of  either  man  or  power 
in  any  portion  of  the  kingdom.  Every  thing  had  to  go  forth 
from  the  place  of  production  in  payment  of  the  tattle,  and  the 
thousand  other  taxes :  and  the  people  were  corveeable  ci  vj- 
lonte,  to  make  the  roads  by  which  it  was  to  pass  out.  With 
the  Revolution  was  swept  away  the  very  shadow  of  local 
administration.  From  that  moment,  every  thing  went  forth, 
to  every  part  of  Europe,  and  on  the  seas  and  oceans  by 
which  it  was  surrounded.*  Conscriptions  were  anticipated, 
and  boys  of  sixteen  were  torn  from  their  mothers'  arms. 
None  remained  at  home  but  the  blind,  the  halt,  and  the  lame, 
and  the  stunted ;  and  thus  was  France  exhausted.  The 
little  pyramids  had  never  risen,  and  the  great  ones  could 
not  rise.  Paris  and  the  Emperor  stood  alone,  columns  in  the 
desert,  and  on  the  first  attack  both  toppled  over. 

From  that  hour  to  the  present  every  thing  has  continued  to 
go  forth  from  the  land  to  Paris,  there  to  be  distributed  and 
exported  by  means  of  armies  and  fleets;  or  in  the  payment  for 
luxuries  consumed  by  kings,  and  princes,  and  nobles,  and 
gentleman,  and  financiers,  and  all  others  of  the  class  who 
live  by  managing  the  business  of  others.  Seventy  per  cent, 
of  the  whole  revenue  of  the  land-owner  in  this  manner  goes 
forth  in  the  payment  of  taxes  and  interest ;  and  hence  it  is 
that  the  kingdom  exhibits  throughout  a  dreary  flat,  occupied 
by  a  poor  people  who  scratch  the  poorest  soils,  and  who 
pretend  to  the  exercise  of  no  single  right  :  being  still,  in 
fact,  though  not  in  theory,  tailleable  et  corveeable  a  merci  et 
a  misericorde.  Prefects,  and  mayors,  and  deputies,  and  depu- 
ties' assistants :  all  are  provided  for  them.  If  the  bridge  re- 
quires to  be  rebuilt,  it  is  to  be  done,  or  not  done,  for,  and 

*  "But  France  got  drunk  with  blood  to  vomit  crime, 
And  fatal  have  her  saturnalia  been 
To  Freedom's  cause,  in  every  age  and  clime." — Byron. 


CONCENTRATION  AND  CENTRALIZATION.       293 

not  by,  them.  If  the  road  requires  repair,  orders  therefor 
must  come  from  Paris.  If  the  mine  proprietor  desire  to 
open  his  coal,  he  must  solicit  permission  at  Paris,  and  pay 
for  it.  If  the  baker  desires  to  open  a  shop,  he  must  seek 
permission,  and  pay  for  it.  Local  institutions  have  no  exist- 
ence. Local  expenditure  has  none.  Local  manufactures, 
or  local  unions,  or  local  action  of  any  kind,  have  none. 
They  can  have  none,  for  the  whole  product  of  the  kingdom, 
except  what  is  needed  for  the  absolute  support  of  life,  is 
swallowed  up  by  officers  of  the  crown,  to  pass  by  every 
channel  to  Paris,  that  thence  it  may  be  forced  out  to  Alge- 
ria for  the  subjugation  of  Abd-el-Kader ;  to  Spain,  to  pro- 
mote intrigues  in  which  the  people  have  no  interest ;  to 
Egypt  and  elsewhere,  .to  procure  knowledge  of  olden  times 
and  of  hieroglyphics,  while  the  people  at  large  are  unable  to 
read  or  write  their  own  language ;  to  create  picture  galleries 
for  a  people,  one-half  of  whom  are  forced  to  obtain  bread- 
tickets  to  save  them  from  starvation :  and,  in  short,  by  every 
means  that  can  be  devised  to  drive  it  forth  from  the  land, 
and  to  prevent  the  concentration  of  man  or  of  wealth  in  any 
portion  of  the  kingdom.  The  system  grows  with  what  it 
feeds  on.  Under  the  government  of  the  Restoration,  a 
thousand  millions  sufficed.  Gradually  it  rose  to  twelve, 
thirteen,  fifteen,  and  now  even  sixteen  hundred  millions  are 
insufficient ;  yet  at  this  moment,  when  people  pay  for  the 
privilege  of  abandoning  lands  they  have  not  means  to  cultivate, 
we  see  complaints  that  the  sovereign  has  not  yet  been  ena- 
bled to  provide  the  proper  retiring  pensions  for  ministers. 
Such  being  the  system,  we  feel  disposed  to  believe  with  Jlf. 
RuUchonf  that  the  government  must  eventually  become  pro- 
prietor of  the  whole  soil  of  France.  That  time  arrived,  and 
it  seems  likely  soon  to  arrive,  the  whole  kingdom  will  pre- 
sent a  dead  level  of  serfdom,  preparatory  to  the  recom- 

*  Editor  of  the  Statistics  of  France,  recently  published  by  order  of  the 
king. 

25* 


294       CONCENTRATION  AND  CENTRALIZATION. 

menceraent  of  troubles  similar  to  those  which  marked  the 
close  of  the  last  century. 

Louis  Philippe  is  called  the  Napoleon  of  peace.  His 
only  claim  to  the  title  is  that  he  has  not  himself  made  war 
in  Europe.  The  French  people  do  not  desire  war,  nor  have 
they  ever  desired  it.  The  peace  of  Europe  has  been  per- 
petually disturbed  by  sovereigns  of  France,  who  have 
ruined  the  people  over  whom  they  presided.  Louis  Philippe 
has  not  made  war  in  Europe,  but  around  him  everywhere  he 
has  promoted  war ;  and  he  is  now  exhausting  France,  and 
rendering  her  poor  and  turbulent,  preparatory  to  becoming 
revolutionary.  He  has  restored  to  the  people  no  one  right 
of  which  they  had  been  deprived  ;  but  he  has  deprived  them 
of  rights,  and  of  the  power  to  protect  themselves,  by  in- 
creased demands  for  men  and  money  to  go  forth  from  France. 
The  thing  which  is  called  in  France  centralization  is  the  re- 
verse of  concentration.  The  latter  tends  to  enable  men  to 
cultivate  better  soils,  and  to  unite  for  the  purpose  of  govern- 
ing themselves.  The  former,  to  compel  men  to  abandon  good 
soils  and  fly  to  poor  ones  ;  and  to  submit  to  being  governed 
by  others.  Some  little  concentration  exists  in  Paris,  and  hence 
the  necessity  for  bringing  it  under  the  control  of  cannon. 

Peace  at  home,  and  the  consequent  growth  of  wealth  and 
population,  have  tended  to  produce  local  concentration  in 
England  ;  but  that  tendency  has  been,  and  still  is,  neutral- 
ized by  a  thousand  opposing  influences.  Towns  and  cities 
have  corporations,  with  privileges  exercising  strong  repulsive 
tendencies.  Parliament  centralizes  the  power  of  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  and  Ireland,  within  the  walls  of  St.  Ste- 
phen's, that  it  may  devote  itself  more  advantageously  to 
the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  world,  and  thus  expel 
the  population  and  the  wealth  that  might  be  advantageously 
employed  at  home.  The  bank  centralizes  the  money  power, 
that  it  may  promote  the  expulsion  of  the  wealth  that  escapes 
the  government,  in  loans  to  Russia  and  Mexico,  Indiana  and 
Illinois  :  in  making  banks  in  Australia,  and  railroads  in  France 


CONCENTRATION    AND    CENTRALIZATION.  295 

and  India.  The  bar  centralizes  legal  power  in  London,  that 
a  few  may  acquire  large  fortunes,  to  be  invested  in  govern- 
ment loans  that  are  applied  to  the  maintenance  of  fleets  and 
armies.  The  manufacturers  centralize  capital  in  Manchester 
and  Stockport,  that  they  may  supply  cheap  cloths  to 
foreign  countries,  that  would  benefit  themselves  and  Eng- 
land much  more  largely  were  they  permitted  to  place  the 
consumer  and  the  producer  by  the  side  of  each  other.  The 
land-owner  centralizes  his  rents,  to  be  expended  in  London, 
Paris,  or  Italy  ;  when,  if  they  were  expended  where  they  had 
been  produced,  they  would  have  given  more  and  better  food 
to  his  tenants,  and  more  rent  to  himself.  He  centralizes  the 
road-making  power  in  the  hands  of  himself  and  his  fellows, 
that  he  may  sell  his  land  at  high  prices  to  the  road-makers. 

Every  thing  tends  to  centralize  itself  in  London ;  and 
hence  it  is  that  picture-galleries  .are  created,  while  nothing 
is  given  to  the  great  work  of  placing  the  whole  people 
in  a  condition  to  read  and  think  for  themselves.  Hence  it  is 
that  so  much  care  is  bestowed  upon  the  relations  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Syria,  Portugal,  and  Italy,  with  each  other,  and  so 
little  upon  those  of  the  people  of  England  among  themselves. 
Hence,  too,  it  is  that  bishoprics  are  established  abroad, 
while  to  the  labourer's  child  at  home  is  scarcely  taught  the 
existence  of  a  Deity.  Hence,  too,  the  care  bestowed  upon 
the  negro  slave  in  America  by  a  people  surrounded  by  starv- 
ing operatives  and  half-clothed  labourers. 

The  tendency  of  centralization  in  England,  as  in  France, 
is  to  cause  men  to  mind  the  business  of  others,  and  to 
neglect  their  own ;  to  cause  them  to  look  from  home, :  and 
hence  it  is  that  «<  ships,  commerce,  and  colonies"  is  the 
motto  of  England.  She  is  now  turning  her  attention  towards 
home  ;  and  men  are  finding  that  if  they  would  continue  to 
have  rents  they  must  make  roads  and  improve  their  lands ; 
and  that  every  such  investment  yields  twice  or  thrice  the 
rate  of  interest  afforded  by  other  modes  in  which  labour  can 
be  employed.  Even  this,  however,  is  done  in  a  mannei 


296  CONCENTRATION    AND    CENTRALIZATION. 

tending  to  concentrate  wealth  in  a  few  hands.  Iron  masters, 
railroad  kings,  and  great  landlords,  grow  rich :  while  the 
mass  of  little  capitalists  are  ruined  by  a  speculation  that 
owes  its  origin  to  the  centralization  of  power  in  the  hands 
of  great  bankers,  and  great  legislators.  Concentration  is, 
however,  taking  the  place  of  centralization,  and  cotton  mills 
are  closed  as  railroads  are  made.  Food  will  become 
cheaper,  and  clothing  less  cheap  ;  and  other  nations  may 
be  permitted  to  place  the  consumer  by  the  side  of  the  pro- 
ducer. When  that  time  shall  arrive,  we  shall  see  the  ter- 
mination of  the  system  of  government  commissions  for  the 
centralization  of  power  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  who  charge 
themselves  with  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  others : 
paying  themselves  largely  for  the  work. 

In  the  growth  of  the  United  States,  we  have  the  exempli- 
fication of  the  natural  system.  At  first  we  find  a  few  scat- 
tered settlements  gradually  approaching  each  other ;  they 
form  states,  and  the  states  at  length  form  a  union,  growing 
from  year  to  year  by  the  addition  of  new  states  ;  yet  towns, 
counties,  and  states  preserve  each  their  local  administration 
and  government,  managing  their  own  affairs  in  their  own 
way :  and  leaving  to  the  general  association  little  more  than 
the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  whole  body  with  other 
bodies  beyond  their  limits. 

In  Massachusetts,  the  oldest  of  the  States,  this  exemplifi- 
cation is  by  far  the  most  complete.  Concentration  of  man, 
of  wealth  and  power,  and  of  the  human  affections,  exists 
to  a  degree  unequalled  in  the  world :  and  hence  the  small 
amount  of  business  that  devolves  upon  the  public  servants. 
Wealth  tends  to  stay  at  home,  and  to  be  invested  where  it  is 
produced  ;  and  hence  the  rapid  advance  in  prosperity. 
Passing  south  and  west,  we  find  diminishing  concentration : 
diminishing  power  in  the  people, to  assert  their  right  to 
manage  their  own  affairs  in  their  own  way  :  and  increasing 
power  in  their  deputies  to  compel  them  to  manage  those 
affairs  in  the  way  dictated  by  others.  In  no  part  of  the 


CONCENTRATION  AND  CENTRALIZATION.        297 

world,  however,  do  the  people  do  so  much  for  themselves, 
and  in  no  part  is  it  so  well  and  so  cheaply  done,  as  in  the 
United  States  at  large.* 

The  result  of  the  three  systems  is  as  follows  : 
The  product  of  the  thirty-five  millions  of  the  people  of 
France  is  about  $1400,000,000,  of  which  those  charged  with 
the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  nation  take  almost  a 
fourth,  or  ten  dollars  a  head.  That  of  the  twenty-eight  mil- 
lions of  the  United  Kingdom  is  about  $1800,000,000,  of  which 
those  charged  with  the  management  of  affairs  of  Church  and 
State,  take  about  a  sixth,  or  ten  dollars  a  head.  That  of 
the  twenty-one  millions  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
exceeds  $2000,000,000,  of  which  the  various  governments, 
local  and  general,  county  and  city,  take  about  a  forty-eighth 
part,  or  two  dollars  a  head.f  The  product  and  division  per 
head  are,  therefore,  as  follows  : 

Product.  Labour  and  Capital.  Government 

France          ...         40  -         -         30         -  -         10 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  -64-         -         -54-         -        -10 

United  States  95  93         -  -  2 

In  the  first,  the  people  leave  all  to  the  government,  which  is 
largely  paid,  and  nothing  is  done  for  them.  In  the  second,  the 
people  do  much,  but  much  is  left  to  the  government,  and 

*  "  Of  all  nations  this  is  perhaps  the  one  whose  government  affords  the 
least  scope  for  glory.  None  has  the  burden  of  directing  her.  It  is  her  nature 
and  her  passion  to  go  by  herself.  The  conduct  of  affairs  does  not  depend  upon 
a  certain  number  of  persons  ;  it  is  the  work  of  all.  The  efforts  are  universal ; 
and  any  individual  impulse  would  only  interfere  with  the  general  movement. 
In  this  country  political  ability  consists  not  in  doing,  but  in  standing  off  and 
letting  alone.  Magnificent  is  the  spectacle  of  a  whole  people  moving  and  go- 
verning itself; — but  nowhere  do  individuals  appear  so  small." — De  Beaumont. 
•f-The  taxes  were  thus  estimated  by  M.  Chevalier,  ten  years  since,  for  the 
State  of  New  York  : 

Federal  taxes $140 

State  taxes 19 

County  tax  .......  31 

Local  school-tax        ......  9 

$1  99 

This  may  be  taken  as  a  fair  average  for  the  Union,  and  the  variation  from 
hat  time  to  the  present  is  not  material. 

2P 


298  CONCENTRATION    AND    CENTRALIZATION. 

something  is  done.  In  the  last  the  people  do  almost  every 
thing,  and  leave  little  to  the  government,  which  is  slightly 
paid,  and  every  thing  is  done.  The  first  looks  altogether 
abroad,  and  cultivates  the  worst  soils  at  home.  The  second 
looks  very  much  abroad,  and  cultivates  avast  amount  of  poor 
soils  at  home.  The  third  concentrates  its  energies  at  home, 
and  passes  as  rapidly  as  it  can  from  the  poor  to  the  better 
soils,  and  labour  is  every  day  more  largely  rewarded.  With 
concentration,  the  production  would  be  greatly  increased, 
while  the  necessity  for  government  would  be  lessened :  be- 
cause the  power  of  self-government  would  be  increased. 

The  great  prosperity  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
is  uniformly  attributed  to  their  abundance  of  fertile  soils. 
They  have  been  supposed  to  be  receiving  wages  for  their 
labour,  plus  the  excess  that  elsewhere  would  be  absorbed  as 
rent.  Forced,  however,  to  squander  their  labours  over  the 
poor  soils  of  the  west,  and  to  use  a  vast  amount  of  the  infe- 
rior machinery  of  exchange,  they  appear  to  have  been  re- 
ceiving only  wages  minus  the  profits  of  the  capital  which  has 
been  wasted  in  subjecting  to  cultivation  poor  soils,  when 
fertile  ones  were  at  hand  waiting  the  demand  for  their  pro- 
ducts. The  rich  meadow-lands  of  Pennsylvania  and  of 
various  other  States  have  remained  covered  with  timber, 
while  thousands  have  sought  the  west,  there  to  commence  the 
work  of  cultivation  on  dry  prairie-land  upon  which  trees 
will  not  grow ;  and  to  obtain  from  an  acre  of  land  thirty  or 
forty  bushels  of  Indian  corn  that  must  be  converted  into  pork 
before  it  can  reach  a  market,  distant  thousands  of  miles : 
whereas,  by  the  careful  cultivation  of  the  better  soils  of  the 
older  States,  their  labour  might  have  been  blessed  with  re- 
turns far  greater.  An  acre  of  turnips  in  England  is  made  to 
yield  twelve  or  fourteen  tons.  Acres  of  potatoes  yield  fre- 
quently almost  as  much ;  whereas  an  acre  of  prairie-land 
yields  but  a  ton  of  Indian  corn,  the  most  productive  of  all 
grains.  The  meadow-land  of  Pennsylvania  is  not  worth  the 
cost  of  clearing,  because  the  market  for  its  products  has  ao 


CONCENTRATION   AND    CENTRALIZATION.  299 

existence:  and  until  the  consumer  shall  place  himself  side  by 
side  with  the  producer,  it  can  have  none.  Place  him  there, 
and  then  nothing  will  be  lost.  The  rich  soils  will  give  forth 
their  products,  and  the  refuse  will  remain  on  the  spot,  to  go 
back  into  the  ground :  and  thus  the  produce  of  the  rich  will 
fatten  the  poor  ones.  The  land  round  cities  is  valuable, 
because  the  soil  gives  forth  its  produce  by  tons  :  not  bushels. 
An  acre  of  potatoes  will  outweigh  a  dozen  acres  of  wheat, 
and  its  refuse  will  fertilize  an  acre  of  poor  soil ;  but  from  the 
produce  of  an  acre  of  wheat  sent  abroad  to  be  exchanged, 
nothing  goes  back  upon  the  land.  We  see  everywhere  that 
when  furnaces  are  built,  coal  mines  opened,  or  mills  esta- 
blished, land  in  the  immediate  vicinity  becomes  more  valu- 
able :  and  it  is  because  that,  when  the  consumer  and  the 
producer  come  together,  man  is  enabled  to  compel  the  rich 
soils  to  exert  their  powers  in  giving  forth  the  vast  supplies  of 
food  of  which  they  are  capable,  and  to  pay  them  back  by  giv- 
ing them  the  whole  refuse  :  and  until  they  do  come  together, 
nothing  can  be  done.  To  render  the  meadow  land  worth  the 
cost  of  clearing,  the  farmer  must  have  a  market  on  the  ground 
for  his  milk  and  cream,  his  veal  and  his  beef.  If  compelled 
to  convert  the  milk  into  cheese,  giving  the  refuse  to  his 
hogs  ;  and  to  drive  his  lean  cattle  to  market :  sending  also  to 
distant  markets  the  food  they  would  have  consumed  in  the 
process  of  being  fattened,  and  thus  losing  altogether  the 
manure  :  the  land  is  but  little  more  valuable  than  the  prairies 
of  the  west,  always  to  be  had  at  the  minimum  price  of  a 
dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  an  acre  :  whereas  to  clear  the 
trees  and  stumps  and  level  the  ground  might  cost  twenty 
dollars  :  and  hence  it  is  that  men  fly  from  rich  soils  to  poor 
ones.  The  people  of  the  United  States  are  now  scattered 
over  a  million  of  square  miles,  and  over  that  vast  surface 
they  have  been  forced  to  make  roads,  and  to  build  court- 
houses, schools,  and  churches  :  whereas,  had  they  been  per- 
mitted to  follow  the  bent  of  their  inclinations  they  would  not, 
at  this  time,  have  passed  the  Mississippi.  The  tendency  of 


300  CONCENTRATION    AND    CENTRALIZATION. 

man  is  to  combine  his  exertions  with  those  of  his  fellow  men  ; 
and  when  we  find  him  doing  otherwise  the  cause  will  be 
found,  invariably,  in  the  existence  of  some  essential  error  in 
the  course  of  policy.  Self-interest  prompts  him  to  this  union. 
He  feels  that  two,  ten,  or  twelve,  acting  together,  can  accom- 
plish that  which  would  be  impossible  to  a  thousand  men, 
each  acting  alone  :  yet  is  he  seen  flying  off  to  the  wilderness, 
abandoning  his  home,  his  parents,  and  his  friends,  while 
meadows  uncleared  exist  in  unlimited  quantity,  soliciting 
his  acceptance  of  their  gifts.  To  produce  an  effect  so  con- 
trary to  the  laws  of  nature,  a  powerful  repulsive  force  must 
exist.  It  does  exist,  and  the  extent  of  its  power  may  be 
measured  by  an  examination  of  the  condition  of  the  adjacent 
province  of  Canada.  Concentration  therein  is  impossible. 
The  man  who  should  undertake  there  to  establish  a  work  of 
almost  any  description,  would  inevitably  be  ruined  by  the 
perpetual  fluctuations  of  the  English  system. 

But  a  few  months  since,  the  prices  of  cotton  cloths  were 
high.  Now,  the  mills  are  closed,  and  a  single  town  exhibits 
twelve  hundred  houses  unoccupied.  The  cotton  manufac- 
turer of  Canada  would  be  ruined.  Three  years  since,  the 
price  of  iron  was  low,  because  peers  would  .  permit  but 
few  railroads  to  be  made.  Now,  it  is  high,  because  they 
have  permitted  the  formation  of  roads  innumerable.  A 
month  hence  railroad  building  may  stop,  and  then  the 
world  will  be  flooded  with  iron,  and  foreigners  will  be 
ruined.  Against  such  revulsions,  the  product  of  a  system 
that  is  to  the  last  degree  unsound,  the  people  of  the  British 
provinces  have  no  protection.  Ministers  are  omnipotent : 
Parliament  is  omnipotent ;  and  the  Bank  is  omnipotent. 
They  make  war  or  peace :  grant  or  refuse  railroads  :  make 
money  abundant  or  scarce,  at  their  pleasure ;  and  the  poor 
colonies  must  bear  all :  and  hence  the  utter  worthlessness 
of  land,  as  is  shown  by  the  occurrences  of  every  day.* 

*  «  By  describing  one  side  of  the  frontier,  and  reversing  the  picture,  the 
other  would  be  described.  On  the  American  side,  all  is  activity  and  bustle. 


CONCENTRATION  AND  CENTRALIZATION.       301 

Railroads  and  canals  are  made  with  government  assistance, 
but  they  are  almost  unused,  and  so  must  they  continue  to 
be,  until  the  people  shall  acquire  the  power  of  self-protec- 
tion:  or  until  England  shall  have  learned  to  obtain  her  own 
food  from  her  own  rich  soils,  and  to  permit  those  who  occupy 
the  other  portions  of  the  earth  to  consume,  on  the  ground 
on  which  it  is  produced,  their  own  food,  returning  to  the  soil 
its  refuse :  and  thus  facilitating  the  construction  of  the 
great  machine,  and  the  development  of  all  its  wonderful 
powers. 

From  first  to  last  we  may  see  in  the  great  fathers  of  the 
country  a  full  belief  that  the  proximity  of  the  consumer  and 
the  producer  was  essential  to  the  promotion  of  agriculture. 


The  forest  has  been  widely  cleared :  every  year  numerous  settlements  are 
formed,  and  thousands  of  farms  are  created  out  of  the  waste  ;  the  country  is 
intersected  with  common  roads,  &c.  *  *  *  On  the  British  side  of  the 
line,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  favoured  spots,  where  some  approach  to 
American  prosperity  is  apparent,  all  seems  waste  and  desolate.  *  *  The 
ancient  city  of  Montreal,  which  is  naturally  the  capital  of  Canada,  will  not 
bear  the  least  comparison,  in  any  respect,  with  Buffalo,  which  is  a  creation  of 
yesterday.  But  it  is  not  in  the  difference  between  the  larger  towns  on  the  two 
sides  that  we  shall  find  the  best  evidence  of  our  inferiority.  That  painful  but 
most  undeniable  truth  is  most  manifest  in  the  country  districts  through  which 
the  line  of  national  separation  passes,  for  a  distance  of  a  thousand  miles. 
There,  on  the  side  of  both  the  Canadas,  and  also  of  New  Brunswick  and 
Nova  Scotia,  a  widely  scattered  population,  poor,  and  apparently  unenterpris- 
ing, though  hardy  and  industrious,  separated  from  each  other  by  tracts  of 
intervening  forests,  without  towns  or  markets,  almost  without  roads,  living  in 
mean  houses,  drawing  little  more  than  a  rude  subsistence  from  ill  cultivated 
land,  and  seemingly  incapable  of  improving  their  condition,  present  the  most 
instructive  contrast  to  their  enterprising  and  thriving  neighbours  on  the  Ame- 
rican side.  *  *  *  Throughout  the  frontier,  from  Amherstburgh  to  the  ocean, 
the  market  value  of  land  is  much  greater  on  the  American  than  on  the  British 
side.  In  not  a  few  parts  of  the  frontier  this  difference  amounts  to  a  thousand 
per  cent.  *  *  *  The  price  of  land  in  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire, 
close  to  the  line,  is  five  dollars  per  acre,  and  in  the  adjoining  British  townships, 
only  one  dollar.  On  this  side  of  the  line,  a  very  large  extent  of  land  is  wholly 
unsaleable  even  at  such  low  prices,  while  on  the  other  side  property  is  conti- 
nually changing  hands.  *  *  *  I  am  positively  assured  that  superior  na- 
tural fertility  belongs  to  the  British  territory.  In  Upper  Canada,  the  whole  of 
the  great  peninsula  between  Lakes  Erie  and  Huron,  comprising  nearly  half 
of  the  available  land  of  the  province,  is  generally  considered  the  best  grain 
country  of  the  American  continent." — Lord  Durham. 

26 


302       CONCENTRATION  AND  CENTRALIZATION. 

They  had  seen  the  effects  of  provincial  government.  They 
had  been  in  the  situation  in  which  Canada  now  is  placed, 
and  they  had  felt  its  hardships.  The  people  of  that  pro- 
vince are  poor,  and  so  must  they  remain  pending  the  exist- 
ence of  the  system :  because,  while  it  lasts,,  they  must  con- 
tinue to  scatter  themselves  over  the  poor  soils.  There  great 
men  are  numerous.  They  are  busily  employed  in  governing 
the  poor  and  scattered  little  men,  and  paying  themselves :  as 
they  will  continue  to  do,  so  long  as  the  power  of  concentra- 
tion on  the  rich  soils  shall  continue  to  be  denied.  The 
abundance  of  land  is  said  to  be  the  cause  of  American  pros- 
perity, but  Canada  has  land  in  greater  abundance,  and  yet  she 
is  too  poor  to  make  a  road  :  too  poor  to  keep  her  owTn  people, 
who  are  now  deserting  her  capital  to  open  houses  of  trade 
in  New  York  :  too  poor  to1  keep  the  unhappy  immigrants 
from  Ireland :  while  the  ever-growing  wealth  of  the  Union, 
blessed  as  it  has  heretofore  been  with  peace,  has  furnished 
means  of  employment  for  all  that  came  direct  from  the  Bri- 
tish Isles  and  from  Europe  at  large,  and  all  that  overflowed 
from  Canada  ;  and  having  received  them,  has  placed  them 
at  once  in  a  situation  to  obtain,  if  they  would,  houses,  lots, 
"and  lands:  homes  of  their  own. 

The  right  of  resistance  to  wrong  is  inherent  in  every  man  : 
and  every  man  and  every  nation  may  be  at  times  compelled 
to  resort  to  war  in  self-defence.  War  is  an  evil,  and  so  are 
tariffs  of  protection  :  yet  both  may  be  necessary,  and  both 
are  sometimes  necessary.  But  for  universal  resistance,  the 
corn-laws  would  still  exist,  and  the  land-owners  of  England 
would  not  yet  have  felt  the  necessity  of  looking  towards 
home.  Concentration  is  now  advancing  in  the  United  States 
because  the  interferences  of  England  are  diminished,  and 
thus  we  see  mills  slowly  rising  throughout  the  Southern 
States,  filled  with  black  operatives.  Planters  now  raise  the 
food  required  for  their  hands,  and  ploughs  and  other  agricul- 
tural implements  are  made  at  home  :  and  hence  it  is  that  the 
overcharged  markets  of  the  world  are  relieved  of  the  sur- 


CONCENTRATION  AND  CENTRALIZATION.         303 

plus  cotton,  and  that  the  planter  obtains  for  a  crop  of  two 
millions  more  than  could  have  been  yielded  by  one  of  three 
millions.  With  a  large  crop  freights  are  high,  and  the  ma- 
chinery of  exchange  absorbs  a  large  proportion  of  the  small 
price  obtained  abroad.  With  a  small  crop,  freights  are  low 
and  prices  abroad  are  high  ;  and  the  planter  obtains  a  large 
reward,  enabling  him  to  clear  and  drain  his  rich  soils.  He 
is  placing  the  consumer  by  the  side  of  the  producer,  and 
with  every  step  in  this  course  he  will  obtain  increased  re- 
turns from  a  diminished  surface.  With  each,  he  will  im- 
prove his  own  condition,  while  the  labour  of  those  by  whom 
he  is  surrounded  will  become  daily  more  valuable  :  and  with 
each,  there  will  be  seen  an  increasing  tendency  to  improve- 
ment in  their  physical,  moral,  intellectual  and  political  con- 
dition. If  we  now  turn  our  eyes  to  Pennsylvania,  we  see 
the  same  results.  To  bring  into  activity  the  coal  mines  of 
the  eastern  portion  of  that  State,  has  required  an  expenditure 
of  $50,000,000,  by  aid  of  which  they  now  send  to  market 
three  millions  of  tons  of  coal,  worth  $6,000,000 :  all  of 
which  is  expended  on  the  spot,  in  payments  to  labourers 
employed  in  mining  coal,  constructing  engines,  and  build- 
ing houses.  Small  as  is,  as  yet,  the  result,  it  has  doubled 
the  value  of  every  farm,  over  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
acres.  The  farmer  has  now  a  market  for  his  timber,  and  he 
clears  his  rich  lands  with  profit  to  himself  from  furnishing 
wood  to  be  used  in  propping  mines,  building  boats,  laying 
railroads,  and  building  houses.  He  has  a  market  for  his 
cabbages,  his  turnips,  and  his  potatoes  ;  his  veal  and  his 
beef;  and  he  is  thus  gradually  acquiring  power  to  force  out 
from  the  great  treasury  of  food  what  nature  intended  it 
should  give  forth :  and  that  power  is  consequent  upon  the 
fact  that  men  have  come  to  eat  it.  Close  the  mines,  and  he 
must  raise  wheat  to  compete  with  the  product  of  the  dry 
lands  of  western  prairies  :  and  at  once  must  his  lands  decline 
in  value.  To  accomplish  thus  much  required  a  vast  sum  : 
but,  as  we  have  already  seen,  in  every  operation  connected 


304        CONCENTRATION  AND  CENTRALIZATION. 

with  the  fashioning  of  the  great  machine,  the  first  cost  is 
the  greatest.  The  land  that  yields  coal  yields  also  iron  ore. 
A  hundred  furnaces  would  produce  five  hundred  thousand 
tons  of  iron,  worth,  at  the  price  in  England,  $12,000,000,  or 
twice  as  much  as  the  present  yield  of  coal :  and  yet  these  hun- 
dred furnaces,  that  would  bring  to  the  producer  twice  as  many 
mouths  as  does  now  the  coal,  would  cost  but  $3,000,000. 
Why,  then,  are  they  not  built?  Capital  abounds  for  every 
purpose,  and  iron  which  should  be  sold  for  fifteen  dollars, 
commands  thirty  dollars :  and  yet  furnaces  are  built  but 
slowly.  The  reason  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  every 
species  of  manufacture  is  a  lottery,  and  will  so  continue 
while  the  policy  of  England  remains  unchanged.  The  fur- 
nace-builder must  calculate  upon  paying  himself  in  a  year 
or  two,  and  so  much  time  may  not  be  allowed  him.  Even 
at  this  moment,  the  increasing  difficulties  of  the  times  may 
have  caused  the  abandonment  of  great  lines  of  roads,  dimi- 
nishing the  demand  for  iron,  and  lessening  the  price  one- 
half:  and  if  so  the  furnaces  and  rolling-mills  of  Pennsyl- 
vania may  be  closed.  Pending  the  existence  of  this  state  of 
things  in  a  nation  possessing  the  power  that  is  wielded  by 
England,  all  operations  of  trade  or  manufacture  requiring 
large  expenditure,  must  continue  to  be  mere  gambling ;  and, 
as  a  necessary  consequence,  they  must  continue  to  be  mono- 
polized by  the.  few  who  can  afford  to  incur  large  risks  for 
the  chance  of  large  profits :  and  those  are  not  the  men  who 
work  most  economically.  When  the  manufacture  of  iron 
shall  become  safe,  it  will  fall  into  the  hands  of  working 
men  :  and  then  iron  will  be  cheap.  While  such  fluctuations 
shall  continue,  all  operations  in  agriculture  must  likewise  con- 
tinue to  be  attended  writh  great  vibrations,  consequent  upon  the 
changes  of  English  action.  At  one  time,  cabbages  and  po- 
tatoes will  find  a  market  on  the  ground,  as  in  parts  of  the 
country  now  they  do.  At  another,  they  will  rot  in  the  ground 
for  want  of  a  market,  as  some  years  since  they  did. 

The  tendency  of  the  whole  system  of  the  United  States, 


CONCENTRATION    AND    CENTRALIZATION.  305 

is  that  of  taking  from  the  great  machine  all  that  it  will 
yield,  and  of  giving  nothing  back:  and  that  tendency  flows 
necessarily  from  the  want  of  power  over  their  own  actions. 
Concentration  is  natural,  and  dispersion  is  unnatural,  yet  dis- 
persion flows  naturally  from  the  absence  of  that  power.  The 
farmer  of  New  York  raises  wheat,  which  exhausts  the  land. 
That  wheat  he  sells,  and  both  grain  and  straw  are  lost. 
The  average  yield  per  acre,  originally  twenty  bushels,  falls 
tne-third.  Had  he  a  market  on  the  ground  for  wheat,  and  milk 
and  veal,  he  could  cultivate  rich  soils,  and  the  same  labour 
that  now  yields  ten  bushels  would  yield  him  forty  :  and  with 
each  year  he  could  clear  such  soils,  for  increasing  popula- 
tion would  produce  demand  for  timber,  and  stone,  and  clay 
for  bricks ;  and  with  each  the  great  machine  would  yield 
forth  more  largely  the  treasures  with  which  it  is  charged. 
He  sows  his  wheat  early  and  it  is  killed  by  the  fly.  Had 
he  a  market  on  the  ground,  for  the  produce  of  the  rich  soils 
now  covered  with  timber,  he  could  so  improve  his  land  as  to 
sow  it  late,  and  then  it  would  escape  the  fly.  He  sows  his 
wheat  on  bottom  lands,  and  it  is  killed  by  frost.  Had  he  a 
market  on  the  ground  for  veal  and  beef,  he  could  enrich 
his  higher  lands  with  the  manure  produced  on  the  lower 
ones,  and  then  he  would  escape  the  frost.  The  farmer  of 
Ohio  raises  wheat  on  thin  soils,  and  it  is  killed  by  drought. 
He  tries  raising  corn  and  wheat  on  the  river  soils,  and  it  is 
drowned  out,  or  destroyed  by  rust.  He  obtains  ten  bushels 
to  the  acre,  which  he  must  sell :  and  the  produce  of  his  land 
diminishes  with  each  year.  Were  the  consumer  near  him, 
his  lower  lands  would  be  appropriated  to  meadows  for  his 
cattle,  whose  manure  would  enrich  the  poor  soils  of  the 
higher  lands,  and  drought  would  not  then  materially  affect 
them.  Another  obtains  thirty  bushels  of  Indian  corn  from 
rich  land,  that,  under  a  proper  system  of  drainage,  might 
yield  a  hundred  bushels  :  but  while  he  wastes  his  labour  and 
manure  on  the  road,  no  drainage  can  take  place.  Thirty- 
two  tons  of  corn,  sown  broad-cast,  have  been  obtained  from 
2Q  26* 


306        CONCENTRATION  AND  CENTRALIZATION. 

an  acre,  in  Massachusetts.  That  acre  was  enriched  with 
the  manure  yielded  by  western  corn,  consumed  in  the  rich 
State  that  has  already  placed  the  consumer  by  the  side  of 
the  producer.  When  Ohio  shall  make  a  market  for  such 
crops,  she  will  have  them. 

The  Kentuckian  exhausts  his  land  with  hemp,  and  then 
wastes  his  manure  on  the  road,  in  carrying  it  to  market.  Had 
he  a  market  on  the  ground  for  corn  and  oats,  peas  and  beans, 
cabbages,  and  potatoes,  and  turnips,  he  might  restore  the 
waste :  but  the  rich  bottom  lands  must  remain  undrained 
until  he  can  place  the  consumer  side  by  side  with  the  pro- 
ducer. 

Virginia  is  exhausted  by  tobacco,  and  men  desert  their 
homes  to  seek  in  the  west  new  lands,  to  be  again  exhausted  : 
and  thus  are  labour  and  manure  wasted,  while  the  great 
machine  deteriorates,  because  men  cannot  come  to  take  from 
it  the  vast  supplies  of  food  with  which  it  is  charged. 
Thousands  of  acres,  heavily  timbered  with  oak,  poplar, 
beech,  sugar-tree,  elm  and  hickory,  are  offered  at  about  the 
government  price,  or  a  dollar  an  acre,  and  on  long  credit,  but 
they  are  not  worth  clearing:  and  they  cannot  be  cleared, 
until  there  shall  arise  a  demand  for  lumber  for  the  construc- 
tion of  houses,  mills,  and  railroads :  and  that  cannot  arise 
so  long  as  men  shall  continue  to  be  limited  to  the  use  of  the 
worst  machinery  of  exchange  ;  wasting  on  the  roads  the  ma- 
nure yielded  by  the  products  of  their  poor  soils,  and  the  labour 
that  might  be  applied  to  the  clearing  of  the  rich  ones.  An 
acre  of  wheat  has  been  made  to  produce  a  hundred  bush- 
els, and  such  will,  at  some  future  day,  be  the  produce  of 
these  lands  :  but  the  consumer  and  the  producer  will  then  be 
near  neighbours  to  each  other,  and  all  the  manure  produced 
by  the  land  will  go  back  again  to  the  great  giver  of  these 
rich  supplies.  She  pays  well  those  that  feed  her,  but  she 
starves  those  who  starve  her :  and  she  expels  them. 

The  cotton  planter  raises  small  crops  on  thin  soils,  and  he, 
too,  is  ruined  by  drought.  He  tries  rich  soils,  and  rains 


CONCENTRATION    AND    CENTRALIZATION.  307 

destroy  his  crop,  even  to  the  extent  of  more  than  two  hundred 
thousand  bales,  worth  many  millions  of  dollars,  in  a  single 
season.  Were  he  near  neighbour  to  consumers  of  food, 
vegetable  and  animal,  he  could  raise  large  crops  of  grass 
and  food  on  rich  lands,  and  manure  the  poor  ones  :  and  then 
he  would  suffer  little  from  drought  or  rain.  He  would  have 
always  at  hand,  aid  in  harvest,  and  his  cotton  fields  would 
yield  him  larger  crops  from  smaller  surface. 

South  Carolina  has  millions  of  acres  admirably  adapted  to 
the  raising  of  rich  grasses,  the  manure  produced  from  which 
would  enrich  the  exhausted  cotton  lands  :  but  she  exports 
rice  and  cotton,  and  loses  all  the  manure,  and  must  continue 
so  to  do  until  the  consumer  of  veal,  and  beef,  and  corn,  shall 
take  his  place  by  the  side  of  the  producer  of  cotton.  When 
that  time  shall  arrive,  her  wealth  and  population  wrill  both 
increase  :  but  until  then  both  must  continue  to  diminish. 

The  sugar  planter  raises  large  crops,  but  they  too  are 
drowned  out :  or,  if  they  escape  the  loss  from  rain,  they 
perish  with  the  frost.  Had  he  neighbours  who  would  con- 
sume food  produced  from  rich  land,  he  might  raise  his  sugar 
on  lighter  soils  while  draining  his  heavier  ones  ;  and  he 
would  have  at  hand  supplies  of  labour  to  aid  him  in  his 
harvest.  He  now  prays  for  the  appearance  of  the  cotton 
worm,  as  the  farmer  of  Ohio  prays  for  the  potato-rot  in  Ire- 
land. The  one  wants  hands  to  make  his  crop,  and  the  other 
mouths  to  eat  it.  Both  are  thus  compelled  to  wish  their 
neighbours  ill,  and  for  the  same  reason  :  because  the  con- 
sumer of  food  cannot  take  his  place  by  the  side  of  the  pro- 
ducer. The  direct  effect  of  the  dispersion  of  man  is  to  cause 
vast  loss  of  labour  and  manure,  and  to  prevent  the  growth 
of  those  feelings  of  kindness  that  are  found  where  men  pos- 
sess the  power  to  concentrate  themselves,  and  to  combine 
their  efforts  for  the  general  good. 

The  prosperity  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  is  not  due 
to  the  abundance  of  land.  It  exists  despite  of  the  necessity 
that  has  been  forced  upon  them,  for  squandering  their  labour 


308  CONCENTRATION    AND    CENTRALIZATION. 

over  the  surface  of  hundreds  of  millions  of  acres  of  poor 
soils,  leaving  untouched  the  rich  soils  that  lie  beneath.  It 
exists,  despite  of  the  necessity  for  living  apart,  when  they 
might  have  lived  in  communion  with  each  other,  combining 
their  exertions  for  the  establishment  of  better  schools,  larger 
libraries,  better  houses  and  gardens,  and  all  of  the  thousand 
aids  to  the  development  of  intellect,  of  taste,  and  of  the 
affections.  It  is,  in  despite  of  these  obstacles,  that  they  have 
schools  where  every  man  is  educated:*  that  they  have  colleges 
and  libraries  fitted  to  produce  men  like  Prescott  and  Bancroft, 
Kent  and  Story,  Irving  and  Cooper,  Norton  and  Robinson, 
Anthon  and  Pickering :  that  mind  has  been  developed  in  the 
construction  of  machinery,  f  enabling  them  to  establish  with  the 
Distress  of  the  manufacturing  world  a  competition  that,  more 
than  any  thing  else,  has  tended  to  produce  the  abolition  of  re- 
straints upon  agriculture  ;  and  which  in  its  turn  tends  now  to 
produce  a  total  change  in  her  system  and  that  of  the  world,  by 
aid  of  which  the  machinery  of  exchange  will  be  diminished  in 
quantity  and  perfected  in  quality  :  the  consumer  of  Germany, 
Italy,  Canada,  the  United  States  and  India,  taking  his  place 
by  the  side  of  the  man  who  produces  the  food  he  is  to  eat. 
With  each  step  in  the  progress  of  this  change,  labour  will 
become  more  and  more  productive  :  man  will  learn  more  and 
more  to  concentrate  his  thoughts  and  affections  upon  home  : 
he  will  learn  more  and  more  to  unite  with  his  fellow  man, 
and  will  acquire  daily  increasing  power  over  the  land  and 

*  «'  In  New  England,  every  citizen  receives  the  elementary  notions  of  human 
knowledge  ;  he  is  moreover  taught  the  doctrines  and  the  evidences  of  his  re- 
ligion, the  history  of  his  country,  and  the  leading  features  of  its  constitution. 
In  the  States  of  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts,  it  is  extremely  rare  to  find 
a  man  imperfectly  acquainted  with  all  these  things,  and  a  person  wholly 
ignorant  of  them  is  a  sort  of  phenomenon." — De  Tocqueville. 

|  "  The  Americans  possess  a  quicker  mechanical  genius  than  even  our- 
selves— as  witness  their  patents  and  improvements  for  which  we  are  indebted 
to  individuals  of  that  country  in  mechanics,  such  as  spinning,  engraving,  &c. 
We  gave  additional  speed  to  our  ships,  by  improving  upon  the  naval  archi- 
tecture of  the  Dutch;  and  the  similitude  again  applies  to  the  superiority 
which,  in  comparison  with  British  models,  the  Americans  have,  for  all  the 
purposes  of  activity  and  economy,  imparted  to  their  vessels." — Cobden. 


CONCENTRATION    AND    CENTRALIZATION.  309 

over  himself:  and  he  will  become  richer  and  happier,  more 
virtuous,  more  intelligent  and  more  free.  I 

That  the  people  of  the  United  States  should  have  acquired 
power  thus  to  affect  the  movements  of  the  world,  has  been 
due  to  the  fact  that  they  have  abstained  from  war,  and  pre- 
parations for  war,  while  other  nations  have  wasted  millions 
of  lives  and  thousands  of  millions  of  treasure  on  useless 
fleets  and  armies,  and  in  wars  of  desolation.  That  they  have 
to  so  great  an  extent  remained  at  peace,  has  been  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  war-making  power  rested  with  the  whole  peo- 
ple :  with  the  men  who  paid  the  taxes,  each  one  of  whom 
had  in  his  house  and  lot,  his  farm,  his  shop  or  mill,  a  little 
saving-fund  in  which  he  could  deposit  his  time  and  money ; 
and  a  home  occupied  by  his  wife  and  children,  the  deposita- 
ries of  his  affections.  For  them  to  go  to  war  is  difficult, 
because  with  them  alone  rests  the  power  to  declare  it ;  and 
before  such  declaration  can  take  place,  a  majority  in  fa- 
vour of  such  a  measure  must  be  obtained.  Among  them 
is  an  infinite  variety  of  interests.  Some  produce  corn, 
and  some  cotton :  and  others  tobacco,  or  rice.  Some  ma- 
nufacture wool:  others  wood  or  cotton.  Some  own  ships: 
and  others  steamboats.  All  these  people  yiay  lose  by 
war,  and  few  can  gain  much.  Under  such  circumstances, 
before  a  majority  can  be  obtained,  much  discussion  is 
needed  in  and  out  of  the  newspapers  ;  in  and  out  of  the 
halls  of  Congress.  Time  is  gained.  The  arguments  for 
and  against  the  war  are  read  abroad  as  well  as  at  home. 
The  cost  of  war  is  discussed  on  both  sides,  and  the  value  of 
the  trade  at  risk  is  brought  into  view :  and  the  result  is  a 
settlement  of  the  difficulty.  Such  is  the  history  of  the  Ore- 
gon and  Maine  boundary  questions.  Slow  action  is  safe 
action ;  and  where  a  nation  takes  the  form  of  a  pyramid, 
with  a  great  base  and  very  small  top,  the  motion  is  slow,  and 
appears  devoid  of  energy :  whereas,  in  one  like  that  of 
France,  where  the  pyramid  is  inverted,  the  movement  is 
rapid,  and  energy  appears  to  exist ;  but  here,  as  elsewhere, 


310  CONCENTRATION    AND    CENTRALIZATION. 

the  amount  of  power  exerted  is  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  the 
time  employed. 

It  may  be  suggested  that  concentration  might  have  a  ten- 
dency to  prevent  the  expansion  of  mind  consequent  upon  the 
existence  of  the  present  system,  and  that  merl  would  think 
too  much  of  home,  and  become  selfish.  Directly  the  reverse 
is  the  effect  that  is  produced  in  private  and  in  public  life. 
The  prudent  man  that  is  fond  of  his  home,  his  wife,  and  his 
children,  has  leisure  to  read  and  to  think.  The  voluptuary 
and  the  spendthrift  have  leisure  for  nothing  that  tends  to  the 
expansion  of  mind.  Such  we  see  to  be  the  case  in  France. 
Every  speech  in  the  chambers,  and  every  newspaper,  abounds 
in  selfish  views.  If  we  look  back  through  her  history,  among 
sovereigns,  nobles,  leagues,  and  leaguers,  the  whole  presents 
a  picture  of  selfishness  not  to  be  exceeded  in  the  world.  If 
we  look  at  the  people,  it  is  the  same.  Expansion  of  mind 
and  liberality  of  feeling  cannot  exist  where  men  cultivate  the 
poorer  soils,  for  communication  is  slow  and  difficult ;  and 
man  must  mix  freely  with  his  fellow  man,  or  he  remains  a 
barbarian. 

In  the  course  of  England  we  find  far  less  selfishness  than 
in  that  of  France ;  but  it  invariably  appears  during  long 
periods  of  war,  like  those  of  India,  and  that  long  one 
which  closed  with  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  Each  step  in  the 
progress  of  the  latter  was  marked  by  growing  disregard  of 
the  rights  of  man  abroad  and  at  home,  until  neutrals  were 
driven  from  the  ocean,  and  the  people  of  England  were 
driven,  almost  en  masse,  to  the  poor-house.  If  we  trace  the 
progress  of  feeling  from  the  days  of  the  Edwards  to  the  pre- 
sent time,  we  may  see  growing  liberality  with  increasing 
population.  If  we  look  at  the  kingdom  now,  we  may  see 
the  intensity  of  selfishness  in  many  of  the  highest,  and  very 
many  of  the  lowest  orders :  the  one  owners  of  extensive 
and  ill-cultivated  lands,  looking  to  corn  laws  for  support : 
and  the  other  habitues  of  the  gin  shop.  If  we  desire  to  find 
liberality  of  feeling,  it  may  be  met  in  abundance  among 


CONCENTRATION    AND    CENTRALIZATION.  311 

the  middle  class  of  people  who  rejoice  in  the  comforts  of 
home. 

We  have  shown  that  in  no  country  does  there  exist  the 
same  tendency  to  concentration  of  affection,  of  feeling,  of 
action,  and  of  wealth,  as  in  Massachusetts:  yet  there  may  be 
found  liberality  of  feeling  in  the  highest  degree.  How,  in- 
deed, could  it  be  otherwise,  when  every  boy,  however  poor, 
has  in  the  little  library  of  the  town  school,  towards  which  his 
father  pays  his  little  contribution,  and  in  which  the  son  feels 
himself  as  much  at  home  as  the  sons  of  the  wealthiest,  books 
that  enlighten  him  in  regard  to  the  modes  of  thinking  and  act- 
ing throughout  the  world  :  and  may  now,  or  soon  will,  read  in 
the  morning's  penny  newspaper  the  history  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  previous  evening  in  every  principal  town  in  the 
Union,  from  New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis  to  the  very  ex- 
tremity of  Maine  ?  With  every  diminution  in  the  quantity 
required  of  the  machinery  of  exchange,  whether  of  things 
or  ideas,  we  find  expansion  of  intellect,  liberality  of  views, 
and  the  disappearance  of  selfishness.  Concentration,  by 
means  of  which  the  consumer  and  the  producer  are  brought 
together,  has  the  same  effect  in  nations  as  in  families  ;  and  if 
we  desire  to  see  improvement  in  moral  feeling,  in  habits  of 
kindness,  and  in  the  disposition  to  make  exertions  for  the 
common  good,  we  shall  find  it  as  we  look  more  and  more 
inward,  and  endeavour  more  and  more  to  render  pleasant 
that  home  in  which  we  are  placed:  in  which,  but  for  the  in- 
terference of  the  laws  of  man  with  those  of  the  Deity,  there 
might  in  all  time  past  have  existed  a  degree  of  happiness, 
of  which,  in  most  nations,  its  inhabitants  have  had  but  little 
idea. 

Passing  southward  from  Massachusetts,  eldest  born  of  the 
family  of  States,  we  find,  from  north  to  south,  and  from  east  to 
west,  a  tendency  in  the  same  direction:  but  diminishing  as 
men  become  more  and  more  scattered,  and  the  fertile  soils 
are  seen  more  and  more  unoccupied.  Throughout  the  whole 
system  exists,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  the  tendency  to  con- 


312        CONCENTRATION  AND  CENTRALIZATION. 

centration  of  feeling  and  affection,  as  is  best  shown  in  the 
existence  of  twenty-two  hundred  newspapers,  each  giving 
to  its  readers  the  history  of  the  proceedings  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood ;  and  in  the  universal  tendency  to  have  in  every 
little  settlement,  schools  where  the  young  can  meet  for  in- 
struction ;  and  places  for  the  worship  of  the  Deity,  where  all, 
young  and  old,  can  meet.  The  home  stands  first;  and  where 
that  is  the  case,  there  will  be  found  in  the  highest  degree  the 
power  of  obtaining  knowledge  relative  to  things  distant  from 
home* 

Were  France  to  turn  her  regards  inward  instead  of  out- 
ward, and  dispense  with  fleets  and  armies,  and  foreign  mis- 
sions, and  the  numerous  other  absurdities  that  characterize 
her  system,  the  expenses  of  her  government  need  not  exceed 
those  of  the  United  States.  That  done,  wealth  would  increase ; 
and  her  people  would  cultivate  the  rich  soils  instead  of  the 
poor  ones  :  and  population  would  then  advance.  The  United 
Kingdom  contains  less  than  a  hundred  millions  of  acres,  occu- 
pied by  twenty-eight  millions  of  people,  and  the  machinery 
of  government  that  is  needed  is  less  than  in  the  United 
States,  where  twenty-one  millions  occupy  six  hundred  mil- 
lions of  acres ;  for  where  people  are  concentrated  they  pro- 
tect themselves :  whereas,  where  they  are  scattered  they  re- 
quire protection.  Were  the  expenditure  of  England  reduced 
to  five  millions  of  pounds  wealth  would  grow  rapidly;  for 
everybody  would  work,  either  with  his  head  or  his  hands : 
and  the  experience  of  every  day  in  that  country  goes  to  show 

*  «  I  travelled  along  a  portion  of  the  frontier  of  the  United  States  in  a  cart 
which  was  termed  the  mail.  We  passed,  day  and  night,  with  great  rapidity, 
along  roads  which  were  scarcely  marked  out,  through  immense  forests.  *  *  * 
From  time  to  time  we  came  to  a  hut  in  the  midst  of  a  forest,  which  was  a 
post-office.  The  mail  dropped  an  enormous  bundle  of  letters  at  the  door  of 
this  isolated  dwelling,  and  we  pursued  our  way  at  full  gallop,  leaving  the  in- 
habitants of  the  neighbouring  log  houses  to  send  for  their  share  of  the  trea- 
sure. *  *  *  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  the  incredible  rapidity  wi>h  which  public 
opinion  circulates  in  the  midst  of  these  deserts.  I  do  not  think  that  so  much 
intellectual  intercourse  takes  place  in  the  most  enlightened  and  populous  districts 
of  France" — De  Tocqueville 


CONCENTRATION    AND    CENTRALIZATION.  313 

the  rapid  improvement  of  the  higher  orders,  since  it  has  been 
discovered  that  if  men  would  maintain  their  places  in  society 
they  must  contribute  towards  its  well-being,  as  the  world  gives 
nothing  for  nothing.  In  no  part  of  the  world  do  all  cbsses, 
from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  so  uniformly  labour  for  the 
advancement  of  the  interests  of  the  society  in  which  they  are 
placed,  as  in  Massachusetts :  and  in  none  do  men  who  have 
acquired  fortune  exert  so  much  influence :  and  simply  be- 
cause, with  all  their  fortunes,  they  continue  to  work  almost 
to  the  close  of  life.  They  are  always  ready  to  unite  in  what 
is  needed  to  be  done,  and  to  contribute  both  time  and  mo- 
ney to  its  accomplishment :  and  society  respects  them,  be- 
cause they  promote  the  good  of  society.  In  less  enlightened 
parts  of  the  Union,  men  of  wealth  do  little  for  the  promotion 
of  the  interests  of  those  around  them,  and  the  latter  take  no 
interest  in  them.  All  this  may  equally  be  seen  by  comparing 
the  rapidly  growing  Liverpool  with  the  stationary  Bristol. 
Concentration  tends  to  promote  activity  of  mind,  and  that 
activity  will  exhibit  itself  more  usefully  abroad  in  the  precise 
proportion  that  it  manifests  itself  usefully  at  home.  The  na- 
tion that  keeps  itself  poor  by  efforts  in  behalf  of  "  the  liber- 
ties of  Europe,"  exhibiting  to  the  world  a  whole  people  in 
the  almshouse,  does  far  less  for  the  extension  of  freedom 
than  it  would  do  were  it  to  mind  its  own  business,  and  ex- 
hibit the  beneficial  effects  of  freedom  in  universal  prosperity 
and  happiness.  The  Parliament  that  occupies  itself  with  the 
affairs  of  Spain  and  Italy,  and  India  and  Canada  ;  and  reports 
on  coal  mines,  and  drainage,  and  interments,  exhibiting  a 
near  approach  to  barbarism ;  does  less  for  liberty  than  a  Con- 
gress whose  attention  is  turned  exclusively  homeward,  leaving 
the  liberties  of  the  world  to  take  care  of  themselves.  The 
influence  of  the  United  States  upon  the  world  is  now  greater 
than  that  of  England,  because  it  maintains  little  army  or 
navy ;  and  its  people  increase  in  numbers,  and  grow  rich  by 
minding  their  own  business.  True  grandeur  goes  with  peace 
and  prosperity,  and  the  cultivation  of  the  rich  soils  of  the 
2R  27 


314  CONCENTRATION    AND    CENTRALIZATION. 

earth.  Littleness  and  selfishness  are  the  invariable  accom- 
paniments of  war  and  the  cultivation  of  the  poor  soils. 

The  highest  degree  of  security  for  the  rights  of  persons 
and  of  property  that  exists  in  the  world  is  to  be  found  in 
Massachusetts :  and  it  is  there  obtained  at  the  smallest  cost, 
because  there  the  people  do  most  for  themselves ;  and  those 
charged  with  the  duties  of  government  do  least.  As  we  pass 
from  that  State  and  from  New  England  generally,  south  and 
west,  security  diminishes,  and  the  cost  increases.  In  every 
part  of  the  world  security  diminishes  with  the  increased  cost 
of  government.  The  latter  is  greater  in  France  than  in  any 
other  portion  of  Europe  :  and  hence  it  is  that  the  government 
builds  fortifications,  and  that  every  man  feels  that  he  is  sit- 
ting on  a  volcano  that  may  burst  forth  at  any  instant.  In 
that  country  centralization  is  carried  to  the  highest  point : 
while  in  Massachusetts  is  shown  the  perfection  of  concen- 
tration. In  the  one,  man's  necessities  are  great :  while  in 
the  other,  his  powers  are  greatest. 

The  PAST  says  to  the  landholder  of  the  PRESENT  :  "If  you 
desire  that  your  property  increase  in  value :  labour  to  pro- 
mote the  growth  of  wealth,  and  the  concentration  of  man  for 
the  purpose  of  eating  the  food  where  it  is  produced." 

To  the  labourer  it  says :  "  If  you  desire  a  large  return  to 
your  labour ;  to  live  in  your  own  house,  or  on  your  own 
farm,  eating  your  food  on  the  ground  on  which  it  is  pro- 
duced: labour  to  promote  the  growth  of  wealth." 

To  all  it  says :  "  If  you  would  be  free,  and  happy,  and 
rich  :  labour  to  promote  concentration,  whose  companions  are 
peace  and  wealth  ;  and  avoid  centralization,  whose  compa- 
nions are  poverty  and  war,  followed  by  the  dispersion  of 
man  over  the  poor  soils  of  the  earth." 


COLONIZATION.  315 


CHAPTER  XI. 

COLONIZATION. 

LOOK  to  it  from  what  quarter  we  may,  we  see  the  human 
race  descending  from  the  great  centre  of  the  eastern  conti- 
nent, the  plateau  of  Asia,  and  seeking  in  the  lower  lands  the 
means  of  obtaining  increased  supplies  of  food ;  those  first 
cultivated  having  been,  invariably,  possessed  of  the  smallest 
quantity  of  the  food-producing  properties.  Emigration  is, 
therefore,  in  strict  accordance  with  the  laws  of  nature.  From 
that  point  the  first  people  proceed  to  occupy  the  land  given 
for  their  use.  At  every  stage  of  their  course  we  see  them 
arresting  their  march,  and  stopping  to  apply  themselves  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  upper  and  poor  soils,  and  by  degrees 
bringing  into  action  the  more  productive  ones.  In  the  in- 
fancy of  the  stately  tree,  its  roots  are  short  and  just  beneath 
the  surface  ;  but  with  each  day  of  its  growth  we  find  them 
spreading  in  all  directions  further  from  the  trunk,  while  the 
great  tap  root  descends  deep  into  the  lower  soils,  and  both 
unite  to  give  stability  to  the  beautiful  mass  of  branches  and 
foliage.  Next,  we  find  lateral  roots  sending  up  suckers, 
which,  like  their  parent,  derive  their  earliest  nourishment  from 
the  superficial  soil :  but  wrhich,  with  age  repeat  the  operation 
exhibited  in  the  first,  and  thus  establish  new  centres  of  attrac- 
tion for  the  various  elements  provided  for  the  support  of  vege- 
table life.  The  first  still  goes  on,  and  as  its  height  increases 
the  great  root  sinks  deeper,  while  the  lateral  ones  still  ex- 
tend themselves,  and  at  each  step  stability  is  increased. 
Surrounded  by  its  descendants  of  various  ages,  diminishing 
in  height  and  their  roots  in  depth  as  .they  recede  from  th»» 
great  centre,  it  forms  a  perfect  double  pyramid. 


316  COLONIZATION. 

Precisely  such  is  the  course  of  man.  He  stops  and  la- 
bours ;  and  wealth  begins  to  grow.  He  builds  houses ;  and 
population  and  wealth  increase.  He  sends  forth  the  little 
shoots,  while  the  few  houses  become  a  town.  Wealth  and 
population  again  increase,  and  he  is  enabled  to  descend  deeper 
into  the  earth,  from  which  he  derives  increased  supplies. 
The  town  becomes  a  city,  whose  wealth  exerts  a  force  of 
attraction  upon  the  population  around,  in  the  ratio  which  its 
own  mass  bears  to  the  mass  to  be  acted  upon.  Upon  the 
old  and  the  rich  they  exert  a  strong  attractive  power :  but 
upon  the  young  and  the  active,  it  is  less,  and  is  not  unfre- 
quently  counteracted  by  similar  yet  weaker  forces,  acting 
in  an  opposite  direction  ;  and  the  latter  are  seen  preferring 
the  poor  soils  somewhat  distant,  which  with  their  small  means 
they  can  cultivate,  to  the  richer  soils  nearer  the  centre.  The  lit- 
tle settlements  around  become  towns,  and  new  roads  are  made. 
Roads  are  wealth,  and  they  give  value  to  the  poor  and  still 
more  distant  lands ;  and  thus  is  counterbalanced  the  attrac- 
tion of  the  towns,  and  even  of  that  of  the  great  city,  whose 
force  is  diminished  by  distance;  and  here  we 'find  the 
younger  and  poorer  members,  whose  fortune  is  in  their 
.strength  of  muscle  alone,  establishing  their  abode.  Popula- 
tion and  wealth  continue  to  grow,  and  therewith  the  attractive 
power  of  the  city  tends  to  increase  ;  but  therewith  further 
roads  continue  to  be  made,  and  these  constituents  of  wealth 
tend  to  attract  in  the  opposite  direction.  Man,  therefore, 
like  all  other  matter,  once  in  motion,  tends  to  continue  his 
onward  course,  but  is  invariably  attracted  by  wealth  :  and 
thus  is  he  subjected  to  forces  similar  to  those  which  keep  in 
order  the  great  planetary  system:  the  centripetal  and  the 
centrifugal :  and  find  him  where  we  may,  he  will  be  seen 
advancing  towards  civilization  more  or  less  rapidly,  precisely 
in  the  ratio  of  the  existence  and  perfect  balance  of  these  op- 
posing forces. 

The  construction  of  a  little  log-cabin  in  the  wilderness  is  a 
strong  inducement  to  the  next  settler  to  take  up  his  abode  in 


COLONIZATION.  317 

the  neighbourhood.  If  its  owner  possess  a  plough  and  a 
horse,  the  attraction  of  wealth  is  greatly  increased,  if  the  new 
emigrant  be  less  rich.  The  two  combined  now  attract  more 
powerfully,  and  the  third  and  fourth  follow.  With  each  addi- 
tion -the  attraction  becomes  stronger,  and  it  is  greatly  in- 
creased if  these  last  are  enabled  to  add  to  the  stock  of  wealth, 
oxen  and  horses,  ploughs,  harrows,  and  axes.  Population 
increases,  and  a  little  store  arises,  the  nucleus  of  the  village 
now  about  to  appear.  At  another  step  we  find  the  church 
and  the  school-house,  and  with  these  additions  to  the  wealth 
of  the  neighbourhood  the  attraction  is  felt  throughout  an  in- 
creased extent  of  country,  until  neutralized  by  the  counter- 
attraction  of  other  settlements  at  a  distance.  That  such  is 
the  course  of  things  may  readily  be  proved  by  any  one  who 
will  trace  the  growth  of  towns  and  cities  in  the  old  world  or 
the  new,  where  wealth  and  population  grow. 

Such  is  the  natural  tendency  of  things :  but  man  has  «  sought 
out  many  inventions."  These  "inventions"  are  seen  in 
the  form  of  wars,  producing  taxation ;  and  in  that  of  regu- 
lation ;  for  he  fancies,  not  unfrequently,  that  the  laws  esta- 
blished by  the  Deity  are  insufficient ;  and  therefore  makes, 
perhaps  with  the  best  intentions,  others  totally  inconsistent 
with  the  great  natural  ones  established  for  his  government  in 
his  relations  with  his  fellow  man.  These  interferences  are 
sometimes  found  existing  to  an  extent  so  great  that  wealth 
diminishes :  and  then  increasing  poverty  is  seen  to  exercise 
a  strong  repulsive  power,  and  men  are  compelled  to  increase 
their  distances  from  each  other  in  the  hope  to  obtain  from 
the  miserable  soils  then  cultivated,  the  food  necessary  for 
the  preservation  of  existence.  Thus,  we  see  the  poor  Arab 
occupying  countries  that  in  other  days  afforded  large  returns 
to  labour,  enabling  a  dense  population  to  obtain  abundant 
supplies  of  the  necessaries,  comforts,  and  luxuries  of  life. 
The  same  course  of  events  may  be  seen,  on  a  large  scale,  in 
the  histories  of  Mexico  and  India. 

At  other  times,  the  '-epulsive  forces  are  found  existing  in 
27* 


318  COLONIZATION. 

a  degree  causing  wealth  to  increase  but  slowly  in  its  ratio 
to  population,  and  towns  and  cities  then  exerting  but  little 
attractive  power  :  while  from  the  small  demand  for  labour, 
and  consequent  poverty  of  the  labourer,  the  mass  to  be 
attracted  is  so  small  that  no  movement  whatsoever  is  pro- 
duced. In  this  state  of  things  there  will  exist  very  sight 
tendency  towards  bringing  into  activity  the  stronger  and  less 
accessible  powers  of  the  earth  in  lands  already  cultivated  ;  or 
towards  facilitating,  by  means  of  roads,  the  cultivation  of 
newer  lands :  and  men  will  then  be  seen  vegetating  where 
they  are  born  ;  doing  as  their  fathers  did,  and  living  as  they 
lived :  too  poor  to  emigrate,  and  almost  too  poor  to  live  at 
home.  Such  is  the  state  of  things  presented  by  many  parts 
of  France  and  southern  Germany,  where  man's  necessities 
are  great,  and  his  power  is  small. 

Again,  we  find  taxation  and  regulation,  with  but  occa- 
sional war.  Wealth  does  grow,  but  still  slowly.  The  cen- 
tres of  attraction  exert  small  force,  and  the  bodies  to  be 
attracted  are  generally  light,  but  variable  in  their  capacity 
to  obey  its  influence.  If  now,  more  powerful  attraction  be 
elsewhere  established:  if  wealth  accumulate  more  rapidly 
in  a  new  direction  than  in  the  original  one :  the  smaller 
bodies  will  be  first  attracted,  and  the  merely  labouring  po- 
pulation will  be  drawn  in  that  direction,  provided  they  pos- 
sess within  themselves  the  power  of  motion :  for  the  mere 
pauper  is  irresistibly  attracted  by  the  spot  on  which  he 
stands.*  If  the  new  force  continue  to  increase  and  the  older 
ones  remain  stationary,  the  larger  masses  begin  to  move, 
and  now  the  mechanic  and  the  small  farmer  are  attracted. 
Another  step  in  the  same  direction  exhibits  moving  off,  the 
larger  farmer,  and  the  man  possessed  of  capital  to  employ 
mechanics  :  and  thus,  class  after  class  moves  in  regular  suc- 
cession. Such,  precisely,  is  the  case  with  Ireland.  Twenty 
years  since,  the  mere  labourer,  or  the  young  man  of  some- 

*  See  page  155,  ante,  for  the  state  of  things  within  the  limits  of  the  City 
of  London. 


COLONIZATION.  319 

what  better  condition,  possessed  of  nothing  but  the  ability  and 
the  disposition  to  work,  constituted  the  only  class  that  fled 
to  America.  By  degrees,  the  small  farmers  came,  but  with 
the  rapid  growth  of  wealth  on  one  side  and  its  almost 
stationary  condition  on  the  other,  each  year  has  witnessed  an 
improvement  in  the  class  of  immigrants  ;  and  now  men  with 
substantial,  but  moderate,  capitals,  are  seen  to  traverse  the 
Atlantic  with  their  wives  and  children  :  seeking  the  employ- 
ment for  their  time,  their  talents,  and  their  capital,  which  in 
their  father-land  cannot  be  obtained.  Again,  we  may  see 
continued  peace  promoting  the  rapid  growth  of  wealth  and  po- 
pulation, and  the  centres  of  attraction  increasing  rapidly  and 
producing  a  strong  attractive  force  ;  neutralized,  however, 
by  taxation  for  preparation  for  future  wars,  and  regulation 
by  which  wealth  is  rendered  stagnant  and  forced  to  seek 
abroad  the  employment  denied  at  home.  The  force  exerted 
is  not  then  in  the  ratio  of  its  mass.  In  this  state  of  things, 
railroads,  ships,  and  steamers  are  constructed,  all  acting  as 
conductors  to  any  existing  opposing  force.  External  attrac- 
tion being  thus  added  to  internal  repulsion,  a  strong  centri- 
fugal force  is  the  result.  Such  is  the  condition  of  England 
in  relation  to  the  United  States.  Her  force  of  attraction 
should  have  stood  first  among  that  of  the  nations  of  the 
world,  but  it  has,  at  all  times,  been  diminished  by  endless 
taxation  for  the  maintenance  of  armies ;  for  the  payment  of 
interest  upon  moneys  borrowed  for  the  support  of  armies  and 
fleets  in  past  times  ;  and  for  the  salaries  of  hosts  of  officers 
whose  services  would  soon  cease  to  be  required  were  eco- 
nomy to  come  in  fashion :  by  taxation  for  the  support  of  an 
immense  church  establishment :  and  by  endless  regulations 
that  forbid  association,  and  tend  to  maintain  existing  mono- 
polies in  land,  in  trade,  in  banking,  and  in  every  other  of  the 
pursuits  of  life.  But  for  them,  labour  and  capital  would  be 
attracted  to  England  :  whereas  they  are  incessantly  being  ex- 
pelled from  it. 

If  we  look  now  to  the  starting  point  of  European  civiliza- 


320  COLONIZATION. 

tion  in  America,  to  Massachusetts,  we  shall  find  there  the 
equilibrium  more  perfectly  established  and  maintained  than 
elsewhere  in  the  world.  With  a  soil  naturally  sterile  for  all 
the  purposes  of  agriculture,  and  destitute  of  coal,  that  State 
supports  a  population  of  a  hundred  to  the  square  mile  ;  bet- 
ter fed,  better  clothed,  better  lodged,  and  better  taught  than 
any  other  in  existence:  and  there  wealth  grows  with  a  rapid- 
ity elsewhere  totally  unexampled.  Perfect  freedom  to  asso- 
ciate has  produced  the  universal  habit  of  association,  which  is 
there  carried  to  its  highest  point,  and  therefore  it  is  that  wealth 
tends  to  remain  in  the  places  of  its  accumulation  :  in  the  little 
towns  and  cities  of  the  State :  the  result  of  which  is  exhi- 
bited in  the  establishment  of  an  attractive  power  of  prodi- 
gious force.  Her  neighbours  possess  better  food-producing 
soils,  and  they  have  coal  and  iron,  while  she  has  ice  and 
granite.  Among  them,  too,  wealth  grows  rapidly:  for  in  all 
may  be  seen  existing,  more  or  less,  the  same  absence  of  in- 
terference lo  which  is  due  her  rapid  growth.  By  them  is, 
therefore,  exercised  a  force  of  counter-attraction  so  great 
that  were  she  by  taxation  or  mischievous  regulations  to 
produce  a  repulsive  force  within,  wealth  and  population 
would  both  rapidly  diminish  :  and  she  would  be  placed  in  the 
same  position  relative  to  them  now  occupied  by  Dorset  and 
Hampshire,  in  relation  to  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire.  In 
her  the  equilibrium  is  perfect.  Labour  and  capital  never 
emigrate  for  want  of  demand  at  home,  but  because  of  a 
somewhat  greater  demand  abroad  that  tempts  the  young  to 
seek  elsewhere  their  fortunes  :  and  hence  is  it  that  labour  and 
skill  are  there  so  liberally  rewarded.  They  make  rich  soils, 
for  they  have  power  to  compel  the  great  machine  to  answer 
to  their  demands ;  and  they  themselves  grow  rich,  while  the 
poor  emigrant  obtains,  not  unfrequently,  little  but  disease 
and  death  from  the  proximity  of  soils  not  exceeded  in  the 
world  for  their  power  to  afford  return  to  labour ;  which  yet 
he  is  unable  to  subject  to  the  plough.  They  place  the  con- 
sumer by  the  producer.  They  gather  the  manure  yielded 


COLONIZATION.  321 

by  the  soils  of  the  west,  and  by  its  aid  obtain  from  an  acre 
a  hundred  bushels  of  corn :  while  the  emigrant,  surrounded 
by  rich  soils,  obtains  but  forty,  and  sees  his  product  dimi- 
nish yearly,  because  he  returns  to  the  great  machine  no  por- 
tion even  of  the  refuse  of  its  gifts.  Here  we  see  exemplified, 
on  a  great  scale,  the  operation  that  may,  on  a  small  one,  be 
found  in  progress  on  the  farm  of  every  improving  farmer. 
He  begins  on  the  hill-side,  and  as  he  works  down  to  the  rich 
soils  and  abstracts  from  them  their  manure,  he  carries  it  up 
the  hill  to  enrich  the  poor  ones.  The  man  of  Massachusetts 
began  on  the  poor  soils  of  his  high  and  rocky  land,  but  he 
is  gradually  working  his  way,  by  force  of  wealth,  and  the 
power  and  habit  of  union,  into  the  richer  lands  of  the  south ; 
and  carrying  up  the  hill,  to  make  a  soil,  that  manure  which 
the  farmer  and  planter  of  the  south  and  west  cannot  reserve 
even  to  such  extent  as  to  enable  them  to  maintain  their  soil 
as  they  found  it :  still  less  to  improve  it.  When  the  latter 
shall  have  acquired  the  power  of  concentration,  they  will 
keep  their  manures  and  improve  their  soils :  but  not  until 
then. 

By  all  the  advocates  of  the  Ricardo  docftine,  the  prosperous 
condition  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  is  attributed  to 
the  abundance  of  fertile  land,  yet,  in  all  other  countries 
men  have  been  most  poor  where  land  was  most  abundant, 
and  where  the  inhabitants  had,  apparently,  most  the  choice 
of  soils.  Fertile  land,  uncultivated,  abounded  in  the  days 
of  the  Edwards,  yet  a  supply  of  food  was  then  obtained 
with  far  more  difficulty  than  now.  It  is  more  abundant,  by 
far,  in  Mexico  than  in  the  United  States,  yet  inferior  food  is 
obtained  at  the  cost  of  far  more  labour.  The  whole  agricul- 
tural product  of  Mexico,  with  a  population  of  eight  millions, . 
is  far  less  than  that  of  a  single  American  state.  It  is  more 
abundant  in  Russia,  South  America,  India,  Ceylon  and 
Brazil,  yet  in  all  food  is  far  more  scarce.  The  reason  why 
labour  is  in  demand  and  largely  paid  is,  that  peace  having 
been  maintained,  the  whole  people  have  been  engaged  in 
2S 


322  COLONIZATION. 

the  work  of  production  instead  of  that  of  carrying  muskets 
and  sabres,  and  therefore  wealth  has  rapidly  increased. 


OF  the  correctness  of  the  view  we  have  submitted  in  re- 
gard to  the  tendency  of  wealth  to  attract  population,  the 
reader  may  be  fully  satisfied  by  a  glance  around  his  own 
neighbourhood,  or  over  his  own  state  or  kingdom,  reside 
where  he  may.  Such  an  examination  will,  we  think,  result 
in  a  conviction  that  the  law  is  universal  in  its  application,  as 
are  any  of  the  laws  of  physics.  Having  so  satisfied  him- 
self, he  will  be  prepared  to  accompany  us  in  an  examination 
of  the  several  systems  of  colonization  now  in  progress :  the 
English,  French,  American  and  African. 

.  That  which  now  chiefly  occupies  the  English  mind  is  the 
one  based  on  Mr.  Ricardo's  doctrine  of  the  value  of  land, 
and  which  was  first  introduced  about  fifteen  years  since,  in 
a  work  entitled  England  and  America.  It  was  there  shown, 
as  the  writer  thought,  that  the  system  of  the  United  States 
tended  to  scatter  population  too  widely :  that  land  was 
sold  too  cheap,  and  that  the  people  would  be  more  prosper- 
ous if  the  government  took  from  them  a  larger  amount 
of  their  capital,  by  way  of  facilitating  them  in  the  work  of 
clearing  the  timber  and  draining  the  meadows.  In  that 
and  other  works  subsequently  published,  it  was  also  shown 
that  England  possessed,  in  her  colonies,  a  vast  quantity  of 
land  of  the  best  description,  capable  of  yielding  a  large  re- 
turn to  labour :  and  that  nothing  was  needed  to  render  it 
highly  valuable  but  that  «  a  sufficient  price"  should  be  put 
upon  it,  the  proceeds  of  sales  to  be  expended  in  transporting 
labourers  to  the  land.  The  idea  took  rapidly,  and  coloniza- 
tion became  the  rage.  To  buy  land  at  from  12s.  to  20s. 
per  acre,  and  to  apply  the  purchase-money  to  the  transport  of 
labourers,  and  by  this  simple  process  to  render  it  as  valuable 
as  that  which  at  home  would  command  a  hundred  pounds 


COLONIZATION.  323 

an  acre,  was  abundantly  captivating.  The  «  political  econo- 
mists" were  highly  delighted  with  it,  and  books  containing 
the  most  glowing  descriptions  of  the  vast  wealth  certain  to 
be  realized,  were  published.  The  only  difficulty  appeared 
to  be  that  of  determining  what  was  the  price  at  which  it 
would  not  be  too  cheap.*  High-priced  land  was  deemed  most 
likely  to  secure  high  wages  to  the  labourers.!  Men  of  fortune 
invested  their  whole  means  in  carrying  out  colonists  and 
implements  of  husbandry.  Companies  were  formed  for 
northern  and  southern,  eastern  and  western,  Australia;  for 
New  Zealand,  north  and  south ;  and  immense  grants  of  territory 
were  obtained  from  the  government :  coupled,  however,  with 
the  condition  that  the  proceeds  were  to  go  to  ridding  the 
country  of  that  portion  of  its  population  which  was  held  to 
be  surplus ;  that  portion  whose  necessities  were  great,  and 
whose  powers  were  small. 

There  exists  in  England  a  large  class  that  in  the  United 
States  constitutes  the  most  useful  of  all  classes,  and  that 
would  be  so  everywhere,  if  permitted :  but  which  there 
occupies  a  most  uncomfortable  position.  It  is  the  class  of 
small  capitalists  :  men  who  have  time,  and  talents,  and 
labour,  that  they  would  desire  to  employ;  and  a  small 
amount  of  capital  that  would  enable  them  to  render  their 
time  and  labour  profitable  to  themselves,  and  highly  so  to 
society,  if  opportunity  could  be  found.  Being,  however, 
surrounded  by  monopolies,  some  of  which  result  from  law 
and  others  from  custom,  while  a  third  and  great  class  results 
from  the  concentration  of  the  ownership  of  land  ;  that  oppor- 
tunity cannot  be  found,  and  time,  talents,  education,  and 
capital,  hang  heavily  on  their  hands.  They  are  too  large 
for  labourers,  and  too  small  to  be  large  farmers,  and  the 


*  "Land  in  the  new  colony,  instead  of  being  extravagantly  dear,  would  be 
remarkably  cheap  at  £2  =  $9  60,  per  acre." — Torrens. 

•j-  "  Wages  must  be  higher  in  the  new  Australian  colony  than  in  the  old 
Australian  colonies,  as  long  as  waste  land  shall  continue  to  be  sold  at  a  higher 
price  in  the  new  than  in  the  old."—  Ibid. 


324  COLONIZATION. 

land-owner  will  have  none  of  them.  They  are  too  small  to 
become  cotton  manufacturers  by  themselves,  and  the  law 
forbids  their  association  for  becoming  such,  by  regulations 
that  tend  to  destroy  the  habit  of  union.  They  are  too  small 
for  bankers,  and  the  law  surrounds  associations  for  banking 
purposes  with  penalties  that  secure  to  great  bankers  and 
great  speculators  a  monopoly  of  that  trade.  They  are  too 
large  for  shopmen,  and  too  small  to  command  what  is  called 
"a  connection."  They  are  too  large  for  curates,  and  too 
small  for  bishops  :  too  large  for  apothecaries,  and  too  small 
for  doctors :  too  large  to  go  before  the  mast,  and  too  small  to 
obtain  a  place  in  the  cabin  :  and  this  applies  to  almost  every 
pursuit  in  life,  the  consequence  of  which  is  that  they  are 
known  as  "  the  uneasy  class"  of  society.  To  the  difficulty 
which  such  men  find  in  obtaining  employment  for  their  time 
and  their  means  is  due  the  fact  that  heavy  bonuses  are  given 
for  employment  accompanied  with  small  but  certain  re- 
muneration ;  the  party  thus  sinking  his  capital  in  exchange 
for  an  annuity  to  be  earned  by  the  application  of  his  labour : 
that  such  large  sums  are  given  for  presentations  in  the  church  : 
that  good- wills  in  shops,  banking  houses,  &c.,  command  so 
high  a  price  :  and  to  this  is  likewise  due  the  vast  amount  of 
business  transacted  by  life  insurance  offices,  whose  profits 
are  derived  from  managing  the  capital  of  thousands  who,  if 
Jthey  were  permitted,  would  manage  it  far  better  themselves. 
Throughout  that  country  abound  clever  and  well-informed 
men  with  moderate  means,  who  are  willing  to  abandon  all 
hope  of  rising  in  the  world,  and  to  sell  themselves  for  life, 
for  small  fixed  incomes :  one  of  the  strongest  evidences  of 
unsoundness  in  the  system.  The  same  thing  may  be  found 
in  portions  of  the  United  States.  Its  extent  is  very  limited 
where  population  is  most  dense,  and  men  are  seen  obtaining 
large  returns  from  the  originally  poor  soils :  but  it  increases 
as  we  pass  south  and  west,  towards  those  parts  where  land 
is  abundant,  and  where  men  obtain  a  poor  subsistence  from 
poor  soils,  while  surrounded  by  rich  ones  that  they  cannot 


COLONIZATION.  325 

cultivate.  The  more  perfect  the  power  of  man  over  land, 
the  greater  is  his  power  over  himself,  and  the  less  is  he 
disposed  to  confine  himself  to  the  effort  towards  maintaining 
his  condition  :  abandoning  the  hope  of  improving  it. 

To  this  class,  the  discovery  of  the  new  principle  of  colo- 
nization was  a  god-send.  Their  time  and  their  capital  were 
almost  unproductive.  Instead  of  three  per  cent,  consols, 
they  could  have  hundred  per  cent,  lands.  Home  had  many 
attractions,  but  their  situation,  on  the  whole,  was  uneasy. 
They  were,  in  many  cases,  gentlemen  in  feeling  and  charac- 
ter, but  at  home  they  could  not  live  as  became  gentlemen. 
In  Australia,  they  could  have  farms  consisting  of  the  most 
fertile  lands,  with  rent-paying  tenants,  and  employ  their  own 
time  in  hunting  or  fishing,  reading  or  writing ;  while  their 
wives  and  daughters  could  amuse  themselves  with  music  and 
drawing.  The  prospect  was  immeasurably  attractive,  and 
accordingly  the  offices  were  besieged  by  applicants  for  land. 
Clergymen  and  half-pay  officers  sold  out  and  invested  their 
little  fortunes  in  certificates  that  were  to  entitle  them  to  fer- 
tile soils  somewhere  :  but  where,  they  knew,  and  apparently 
cared,  not.  That  it  was  land  appeared  to  be  all-sufficient 
for  them.  Lawyers  and  doctors,  with  small  capitals  and 
smaller  practice,  were  eager  to  settle  in  this  new  El  Dorado, 
where  they  might  combine  the  profits  of  professional  occupa- 
tion with  a  little  rent-roll,  and  pass  downwards  through  life 
in  the  enjoyment  of  a  good  table,  garnished  with  old  wine.* 
Farmers  threw  up  their  leases,  preferring  to  constitute  them- 
selves rent-receivers,  and  thus  becoming  gentlemen  of  lei- 
sure, instea^  of  remaining  rent-payers.  Small  traders,  me- 
chanics, and  men  of  every  class  in  society,  purchased  prizes 
in  the  new  and  grand  lottery.  Ships  were  laden  with  furni- 
ture, books,  pictures,  materials  for  drawing,  pianos,  music, 
flutes,  fishing  tackle,  fowling-pieces,  and  all  other  of  the  ap- 
pliances necessary  for  the  enjoyment  of  perfect  happiness. 
Delicate  and  highly  educated  women,  wives  and  daughters, 
embarked  for  Australia,  confident  that  they  should  find  in  the 

28 


326  COLONIZATION. 

enjoyment  of  perfect  repose,  ample  amends  for  the  loss  of  the 
society  of  the  friends  of  their  youth.  With  their  arrival  in 
the  colony,  the  beautiful  vision  disappeared.  The  fertile 
lands  were  inaccessible,  and  those  which  were  accessible 
were  worthless,  except  for  sheep-runs.  High  and  dry  lands, 
without  trees,  were  abundant:  "and  bottom-lands,  covered 
with  timber  that  they  could  not  fell,  were  equally  so.  Both 
were  to  them  equally  valueless.  Labour  was  scarce  and  high, 
for  the  order  of  things  had  been  inverted,  and  the  capitalist 
had  gone  ahead  of  the  labourer :  the  true  emigrant.  Ladies 
and  gentlemen  had  to  wait  on  themselves.  In  short,  all  the 
troubles,  and  difficulties,  and  annoyances,  so  well  described 
by  Mrs.  Kirkland  in  her  admirable  account  of  the  "  New 
Home,"  were  experienced  by  these  deluded  and  unfortunate 
colonists ;  the  only  difference  being  that  their's  were  tenfold 
greater  than  her's.  They  had  pianos  and  harps  in  abundance, 
but  they  required  only  axes  and  spades,  pots  and  kettles. 
The  bubble  burst,  and  all  that  remained  was  blighted  hope, 
accompanied  by  a  consciousness  of  having  wasted  fortune  in 
pursuit  of  an  ignis  fatuus.  They  were  blind,  and  they  had 
permitted  themselves  to  be  led  by  the  blind. 

The  whole  history  of  these  colonies  is  one  of  endless  dis- 
putes and  troubles.  The  Government  would  take  them  into 
its  care.  Governors  who  knew  little  were  appointed  by  se- 
cretaries who  knew  less,  and  they  not  unfrequently  evinced 
a  total  want  of  capacity  for  the  performance  of  their  own 
duties,  and  an  equal  want  of  respect  for  the  rights  of  others. 
As  colonial  secretaries  had  shown  themselves  determined  to 
be  masters,  and  determined  not  to  permit  officers  |md  directors 
of  associations  for  the  promotion  of  the  great  scheme  to  ex- 
ercise the  powers  of  government,  the  latter  were  glad  to  throw 
upon  the  shoulders  of  the  former  the  burden  of  failure  that 
necessarily  resulted  from  its  own  inherent  defects ;  and  a 
scene  of  wrangling  has  ensued,  resulting  in  leaving  it  some- 
what doubtful  with  the  public  whether  the  fault  was  in  the 
projection,  or  in  the  carrying  out  of  the  scheme.  All  that  is 


COLONIZATION.  327 

generally  known  is,  that  a  vast  number  of  people  have  been 
ruined  by  the  purchase  of  farms  that  are  totally  worthless :  that 
"  accommodation  land,"  as  it  is  termed,  i.  e.,  land  that  was 
calculated  for  the  supply  of  beans  and  peas  to  towns  whicli 
never  existed,  was  sold  in  lots  of  two,  or  three,  or  five 
acres,  at  enormous  prices  by  lucky  speculators ;  that  the  go- 
vernment itself  retailed  lots,  a  dozen  at  a  time,  at  prices 
worthy  almost  of  Liverpool  and  Manchester,  in  towns  that 
scarcely  existed  but  on  paper :  that  those  prices  were  paid 
because  "the  original  and  inexhaustible  powers  of  the  soil" 
were  so  great  that  population  and  wealth  must  so  rapidly 
increase  that  it  was  difficult  to  tell  to  what  size  these  towns 
and  cities  might  not  grow ;  and  that,  therefore,  the  govern- 
ment thought  it  inexpedient  to  wholesale  them.  Concentra- 
tion, too,  was  the  order  of  the  day.  Men  must  not  be  per- 
mitted to  exercise  the  right  of  self-government  so  far  as  to 
judge  for  themselves  where  they  would  place  their  houses,  or 
their  stores.  Land  was  fixed  at  so  high  a  price  that  they 
might  be  compelled  to  remain  together,  and  thus  their  powers 
were  diminished,  that  their  powers  might  become  greater. 
Such  was  the  scheme  that  lured  to  Australia  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  accomplished  men  and  women,  possessed  of  mo- 
derate competence.  Many  have  died,  while  very  many  have 
returned  beggars  from  this  land  of  promise.  The  thing  is 
dead,  never  again  to  be  revived,  though  many  even  yet  write 
about  it.  But  tew  weeks  have  elapsed  since  the  rfecessity  for 
a  new  and  grand  plan  of  emigration  was  urged  on  the  govern- 
ment, and  by  men  standing  high  in  the  political  and  econo- 
mical world  :  to  the  exceeding  terror  of  the  poor  Canadians, 
who  dreaded  to  see  a  repetition  of  the  horrors  of  Australia. 

The  number  of  people  transported  to  the  wilderness  was 
great,  and  the  amount  of  capital  sunk  in  the  speculation  was 
enormous.  The  larger  the  amount  of  property  sent  to  the  colo- 
ny, the  greater  was  held  to  be  the  profit  of  the  mother  country. 
Tables  of  exports  were  printed,  showing  how  large  a  market 
h-id  been  secured :  but  imports  there  were  none.  It  was  all 


328  COLONIZATION. 

pure  loss.  For  some  years  past  emigration  has,  fortunately 
for  the  colonies,  wholly  ceased.  They  will  now  proceed  in 
the  natural  way,  cultivating  the  lands  that  are  accessible  and 
using  others  as  sheep-walks,  by  which  means  they  will  ar- 
rive in  time  to  be  respectable  members  of  the  British  colo- 
nial family ;  and  at  some  future  period  they  may  become 
sufficiently  wealthy  to  attract  further  emigration,  which  now 
they  are  not. 

The  scheme  failed  because  it  was  in  direct  opposition  to 
the  laws  of  nature  :  and  to  the  lessons  of  the  past.  The.  wil- 
derness offers  little  attraction  to  the  labourer  and  still  less  to 
the  capitalist,  large  or  small.  In  all  successful  colonization, 
the  former  is  found  just  ahead  of  the  houses,  and  towns,  and 
roads  of  his  predecessors,  and  if  he  pass  too  far  ahead,  he 
starves.  He  prepares  the  way  for  the  little  capitalist  who  is 
willing  to  pay  some  one  for  clearing  a  little  land,  and  build- 
ing a  log-house  ;  and  the  latter,  in  his  turn,  smooths  the  way 
for  one  a  little  larger :  but  all  must  keep  within  sight  and  hear- 
ing of  their  predecessors.  No  one  voluntarily  goes  upon  land 
that  has  not  already  acquired  some  little  value  by  the  appli- 
cation of  some  labour  in  the  construction  of  communications. 
The  first  settler  adds  a  little  to  that  value  by.preparing  a  few 
acres  of  land  and  building  the  house.  The  second  increases 
it,  and  thus  it  rises  in  time,  from  being  absolutely  worthless,  to 
becoming  worth  something,  and  passes  gradually  from  one 
or  two,  to  six,  eight,  or  ten  dollars  per  acre  ;  but  in  no  case 
will  it  exchange  for  as  much  labour  as  it  would  cost  to  place 
it  in  the  same  condition,  were  it  again  reduced  to  its  original 
state  ;  and  the  reason  that  it  will  not  do  so  is  that  with  every 
step  in  the  progress  of  wealth  and  population  better  soils  can 
be  obtained  with  less  labour.  That  which  is  now  required 
for  combining  the  lime  with  the  clay,  is  not  one-fifth  as  great 
as  was  first  expended  in  clearing  and  enclosing  the  poor 
clay :  yet  the  new  soil  thus  produced  is  of  treble  power. 

We  know  of  no  case  in  which  the  emigration  of  capitalists 
has  been  successful.  Few  men  have  undertaken  the  work, 


COLONIZATION.  329 

possessed  of  greater  advantages  for  the  work  than  the  founder 
of  Pennsylvania,  yet  he  sunk  nearly  his  whole  fortune  in  the 
operation.  He  received  the-  grant  in  payment  of  a  debt  of 
£30,000,  and  after  having,  in  twenty  years,  expended 
£52,000,  he  had  received  less  than  £20,000 :  leaving  him 
minus  above  £62,000,  for  which  he  offered  to  receive  £12,000 
from  the  government,  and  relinquish  his  claim.  The  Swedes 
and  Dutch  had  preceded  him,  and  thus  paved  the  way  for 
his  arrival.  Without  this,  his  loss  would  have  been  vastly 
greater.  The  same  experiment  has  been  tried  in  other  colo- 
nies, and  always  with  the  same  result.  One  of  the  Peel 
family,  a  few  years  since,  undertook  the  business  of  coloni- 
zation, and  sunk,  we  think,  about  £70,000  in  a  few  short 
months.  At  Sydney ;  in  Van  Diemen's  land ;  and  in  that  other 
colony  of  Norfolk  Island,  fitly  designated  as  "  a  hell  upon 
earth,"  the  only  title  to  which  it  can  fairly  lay  claim  ;  the 
State  has  been  the  great  capitalist,  and  were  it  now  to  sell 
out,  it  would  be  found  that  had  it  been  an  enterprise  of  pri- 
vate capitalists  they  would  have  been  ruined  had  they  pos- 
sessed the  fortunes  of  the  Barings,  the  Rothschilds,  and 
Astor,  and  fifty  more  such,  united.  Australia  would  not 
now  sell,  in  the  market  of  the  world,  for  one-twentieth  of  its 
cost.  The  difference  has  been  paid  out  of  taxes  on  tea, 
coffee,  sugar,  beer,  &c.,  by  which  men  were  impoverished 
and  driven  to  crime,  to  prepare  them  for  the  new  colony  fit- 
ting for  their  reception. 

Neither  is  it  possible,  as  we  believe,  to  find  an  instance  of 
the  emigration  of  people  able  and  willing  to  labour,  to  an 
entirely  new  country,  that  has  been  successful ;  except  where 
they  were  animated  by  something  more  than  the  mere  de- 
sire of  wealth :  and  the  efforts  of  colonists  not  so  animated 
have  always  failed,  except  where  supported  out  of  taxation 
upon  the  people  who  remained  behind.  The  French  colonies 
were  supported  by  the  government,  or  they  failed.  The  first 
emigrants  to  Oregon  would  have  starved,  but  for  the  exist- 
ence of  the  settlements  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  The 
2T  28* 


330  COLONIZATION. 

recent  e migrants  to  California  would  have  been  in  the  same 

o 

condition  but  for  the  existence  of  a  certain  amount  of  wealth, 
in  cleared  and  cultivated  lands,  in  oxen  and  mules,  and 
houses,  belonging  to  the  earlier  settlers.  The  settlement  of 
South  Africa,  a  few  years  since,  was  a  failure  as  complete  as 
was  that  at  the  Belize,  where  many  of  the  settlers  starved  in 
view  of  the  richest  lands  of  the  world,  which  they  had  not 
means  to  clear  and  occupy.  The  Swedes  made  no  progress, 
nor  did  the  cavaliers  of  Virginia,  and  therefore  was  it  that 
the  latter  requires  slaves.  The  South  Carolina  settlement, 
planned  by  Locke,  with  its  caciques  and  its  various  absurd 
machinery,  was  an  entire  failure.  That  such  is  the  case,  is  the 
consequence  of  a  great  law  of  nature  which  forbids  that  man 
should  profit  by  the  superior  soils  until  he  has  won  them  by 
severe  labour,  for  which  they  are  the  reward.  The  settler  in 
Mississippi  cultivates  the  poor  land  on  the  hill  in  full  view 
of  the  river  bottom,  because  the  scrub-pine  is  more  easily 
removed  than  the  oak  ;  and  because  he  knows  that  if  it  were 
even  in  his  power  to  remove  the  latter,  the  land  on  which  it 
is  growing  is  wet,  and  he  has  not  the  means  to  drain  it :  and 
that  he  should  be  ruined  in  the  attempt.  He  obtains  a  bare 
subsistence  from  the  poor  soil  on  which  he  works,  because 
he  can  sometimes  sell  his  labour  to  a  neighbour,  or  borrow  a 
plough  or  a  horse,  or  sell  wood  to  a  steamboat :  and  were  he 
deprived  of  the  advantages  thus  resulting  from  the  existence 
of  other  wealth  than  his  own,  he  would  starve.  What  induce- 
ment, then,  can  man  have  to  go  out  of  sight  and  hearing  of 
his  fellow  man  ?  He  is  everywhere,  when  permitted,  seen 
seeking  union  with  him,  and  deriving  aid  and  comfort  from 
that  union.  He  finds  the  greatest  demand  for  his  labour 
where  that  union  is  rendered  possible  by  the  existence  of 
wealth  :  for  without  it  there  can  be  none.  In  the  wilderness, 
he  finds  land,  and  land  only,  which  is  not  wealth,  and  it 
can  therefore  exert  no  attractive  power.  The  more  he  has 
of  it,  the  poorer  he  is.  Left  to  himself,  then,  man  will  never  / 
seek  it,  unless  the  desire  of  emancipation  from  tyranny  over 


COLONIZATION.  331 

his  thoughts  or  his  actions  induce  him  to  submit  to  the  priva- 
tions incident  thereto.  That,  and  that  alone,  enabled  the 
Pilgrims  to  endure  the  horrors  of  the  first  winter  on  the  bleak 
shores  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 

The  author  of  this  plan  of  colonization  saw,  and  saw 
truly,  in  the  tendency  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  to 
scatter  themselves  over  the  wild  lands  of  the  west,  a  cause 
of  poverty  and  not  of  wealth.  He  saw  that  concentration 
was  needed,  but  he  erred  in  regard  to  the  means  by  which 
it  should  be  sought.  He  assumed  that  man  always  selected 
first  the  rich  soils :  although  he  might  have  seen  remaining 
uncultivated  in  the  old  states,  millions  of  acres  of  rich 
lands,  while  men  passed  westward  to  cultivate  prairie  lands, 
where  water  is  almost  a  luxury.  Had  he  seen  the  true  cause 
of  man  thus  squandering  his  labour  in  the  wilderness  of 
America,  he  would  have  found  the  true  remedy  for  the 
apparent  over-population  of  Britain  ;  but  this  he  did  not  see, 
and  therefore  was  it  that  he  was  led  to  attribute  the  waste 
of  labour  to  excess  in  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  self- 
government  :  whereas  the  true  reason  was  to  be  found  in  the 
almost  total  absence  of  the  existence  of  any  power  to  deter- 
mine for  themselves  where  they  would  live  and  where  they 
would  not.  They  would  have  preferred  remaining  at  home  with 
their  relative  and  friends,  but  the  misdirection  of  the  wealth 
and  labour  of  England  produced  a  repulsive  force,  driving 
them  abroad  to  seek  in  the  wilderness  that  which  home 
would  not  afford :  and  therefore  was  it  that  they  went  west 
to  obtain  ten  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre,  leaving  behind  land, 
unoccupied,  that  would  have  given  almost  as  many  tons  of 
potatoes,  the  manure  from  which  would  have  enriched  the 
poor  soils  already  in  cultivation.  These  they  could  not 
raise  because  too  bulky  for  transportation,  and  there  existed 
no  market  for  milk,  eggs,  veal  or  beef:  and  therefore  was  it 
that  they  sought  the  west  where  they  could  obtain  Indian 
corn,  which,  being  converted  into  pork,  might  perhaps  be 
received  by  England  in  payment  for  shirts  and  pantaloons. 


332  COLONIZATION. 

The   author  of  the  scheme  saw  that  concentration  was 

* 

needed  on  the  one  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  therefore  was  it 
that  he  proposed  de-concentration  of  the  people  of  the  oppo- 
site side,  to  be  followed  by  forced  concentration  in  the 
southern  hemisphere.  Men  were  to  be  deprived  of  the 
right  of  selecting  for  themselves,  and  to  that  end  land  was  to 
be  fixed  high :  and  they  were  to  be  made  to  pay  twenty  or 
forty  shillings  an  acre  for  that  for  which  man  had  done 
nothing,  while  for  that  in  the  Western  States  for  which  man 
had  already  done  much  in  the  form  of  communications,  the 
government  asked  but  five  shillings.  That  he  should  so 
far  have  erred  is  extraordinary :  but  that  so  many  thousands 
should  have  risked  their  fortunes  and  happiness  on  such  a 
scheme  is  far  more  so. 

The  colonial  system  of  England  has  been,  and  is,  hei 
greatest  curse.  To  acquire,  and  to  retain,  colonial  subjects  : 
for  as  equals  they  have  never  been  regarded  :  wealth  has 
been  expended  that  would  have  made  of  every  field  in  the 
United  Kingdom  a  garden  from  which  the  occupant,  enabled 
by  its  aid  to  bring  into  activity  the  better  soils,  would  have 
drawn  an  amount  of  food  thrice  exceeding  what  the  poorer 
ones  have  given  him.  So  applied,  it  would  have  been  attended 
with  a  vast  increase  of  wealth  and  population,  and  the  roads 
would  long  since  have  afforded  facilities  of  communication 
almost  equalling  those  of  the  present  day.  To  wars  for 
colonies  may  be  attributed  the  whole  of  the  present  enor- 
mous debt  with  which  she  is  burthened  ;  and  by  the  weight 
of  which  she  will  be  distanced  in  the  race  she  has  now  to 
run,  with  a  people  who,  bone  of  her  bone  and  flesh  of  her 
flesh,  have  no  such  load  to  carry.  To  retain  them  now,  she 
maintains  an  immense  army  and  a  prodigious  fleet,  requiring 
taxes  to  an  extent  that  tends  to  produce  repulsion  and  to 
drive  abroad  both  man  and  wealth  that  should  remain  at 
nome. 

Were  she  at  once  to  grant  to  every  colony  the  right  of 
self-government,  a  fleet  as  large  as  that  of  the  United  States 


COLONIZATION.  333 

would  perform  all  the  duties  of  maintaining  the  police  of  the 
ocean,  and  no  army  whatsoever  would  be  needed.  She 
would  thus  save  twelve  millions,  and  in  such  a  case  a  penny 
saved  is  more  than  a  penny  gained.  That  sum  is  the  inte- 
rest of  four  hundred  millions,  or  half  of  her  whole  debt. 
The  vast  sums  now  wasted  on  preparations  for  war  would 
speedily  extinguish  that  debt;  and  were  its  reduction  once 
fairly  commenced  each  man  would  feel  himself  lightened 
of  a  load,  while  the  increase  of  his  productive  power  would 
enable  him  to  bear  more  easily  that  portion  which  remained. 
Wealth  would  grow  with  greatly  increased  rapidity,  and  its 
application  to  agriculture  and  to  the  extension  of  roads  and 
railroads  would  produce  an  increased  demand  for  labour, 
with  increase  of  wages  tending  to  enable  the  labourer  to 
improve  his  physical,  moral,  and  intellectual  condition. 
Population  would  then  increase  more  rapidly,  and  the 
demand  would  grow  more  rapidly  than  the  supply.  Every 
new  appropriation  of  capital  to  a  road  would  produce  farther 
demand  for  capital  for  engines  and  cars ;  for  ploughs,  and 
spades,  and  pickaxes,  and  tiles,  and  lime,  and  marl,  and 
houses,  and  shops,  and  saw-mills,  and  grist-mills:  and  then 
everybody,  labourer  and  capitalist,  would  have  reason  to  be 
content,  for  the  value  of  capital  would  rise  with  the  increased 
demand  at  home,  resulting  from  the  habit  of  looking 
towards  home;  and  from  the  growth  of  the  power  of  the 
great  food-producing  machine.  We  now  see  the  three  per 
cents.,  which  were  for  a  long  time  worth  107,  selling  at  80. 
With  each  step  in  the  progress  of  freedom,  mere  annuities, 
whether  for  the  use  of  capital  or  labour,  would  be  less 
sought  after,  and  consols  would,  and  will,  fall  to  70,  and 
perhaps  far  less. 

Those  who  doubt  this  may  satisfy  themselves  by  looking 
to  the  continent,  and  seeing  at  how  low  a  rate  money  is, 
and  in  times  past  has  been,  supplied  to  governments  in  some 
of  the  poorer  countries  of  Europe.  When  their  trade  shall 
become  more  free  wealth  will  increase  more  rapidly,  and  th 


334  COLONIZATION. 

rate  of  interest  will  rise  as  it  has  done  in  England.  Govern- 
ments will  then  dispense  with  armies  and  wars,  for  both  will 
become  more  costly.  The  capitalist  will  then  have  larger 
profits,  for  he  will  manage  his  own  capital :  and  the  labourer 
will  have  larger  wages,  for  he  will  manage  his  own  labour. 
The  true  interests  of  both  are  therefore  identical,  and  nothing 
can  injure  one  without  equally  injuring  the  other.  The  price 
of  money  rose  during  the  long  war,  but  the  price  of  commo- 
dities advanced  in  a  more  rapid  ratio,  and  the  capitalist 
received  less  in  quantity  while  receiving  more  in  proportion. 
The  interest  of  .£100  will  now  purchase  twice  the  amount 
of  comfort  that  it  would  have  done  when  consols  were  at  48. 
Freed  from  the  burden  of  colonies,  any  and  everywhere, 
she  would  need  no  army  abroad  and  she  would  require  none 
at  home,  because  increasing  prosperity  resulting  from  the 
abolition  of  taxes,  would  be  attended  by  increased  disposi- 
tion for  the  performance  of  duties,  and  increased  respect  for 
the  rights  of  others,  among  the  whole  people.  "  Strikes" 
would  become  less  abundant  among  those  who  work,  because 
tax-gatherers  and  receivers ;  and  pensioners,  and  sinecurists, 
and  admirals, — red,  blue,  and  yellow ;  the  class  which  pre- 
fers not  to  work :  would  be  less  numerous.  She  would  need 
no  army  for  home  defence,  for  harmony  would  prevail 
throughout  the  whole  system,  taking  the  place  of  existing  dis- 
cord ;  and  millions  of  men,  feeling  that  they  had  rights,  and 
possessing  over  their  neighbours  the  same  advantages  that 
enabled  a  few  thousand  yeomen,  at  Cressy  and  Poictiers,  to 
triumph  over  the  countless  mob  of  princes,  nobles,  and  gen- 
tlemen to  whom  they  were  opposed,  would  be  at  all  times 
ready  to  defend  their  homes,  their  wives  and  children  ;  while 
railroads  would  enable  her,  at  a  moment's  notice,  to  place  them 
where  their  services  were  needed.  Her  apparent  strength 
would  be  less,  but  her  real  strength  would  be  far  greater; 
and  it  would  increase  with  prodigious  rapidity.  Wealth  is 
strength,  as  has  been  shown,,  time  after  time,  by  the  people 
cf  the  Netherlands  and  Holland,  and  of  the  free  cities  of  Ger- 


COLONIZATION.  335 

many,  in  their  ability  to  defend  themselves  against  the  in- 
vading armies  of  France  :  and  as  would  have  been  shown  by 
Italy,  had  she  not  possessed  within  her  bosom,  in  the  Church, 
a  power  deriving  from  abroad  its  ability  to  produce  division 
and  weakness  at  home.  Wealth  results,  not  from  the  labour 
of  men  who  carry  muskets,  but  from  that  of  those  who  carry 
spades  and  pickaxes :  and  if  the  former  do  not  give  wealth, 
they  cannot  give  strength,  physical,  moral,  intellectual,  or 
political.  Ten  millions  spent  in  railroads  give  more  strength : 
more  power  of  self-protection  and  advancement :  than  could 
be  given  by  all  the  fleets  and  armies  of  the  world  assembled 
at  a  cost  of  hundreds  of  millions. 

Were  the  millions  now  thus  spent  applied  throughout 
Great  Britain  to  improving  the  great  food-producing  machine, 
the  result  would  be  a  constant  increase  in  the  power  to  make 
more  roads ;  to  cultivate  still  better  soils  ;  to  participate  in  the 
advantages  of  union  for  the  maintenance  of  perfect  security  at 
home,  and  against  interference  from  abroad ;  and  to  unite  for 
the  dissemination  of  instruction  throughout  the  whole  body  of 
the  people  :  tending  thus  to  make  them  feel  that  they  could 
protect  themselves,  and  that  without  either  fleets  or  armies. 
Seeing  this,  none  would  venture  even  to  hint  invasion.  In- 
stead of  fort-building,  and  "great  activity  in  the  dock-yards," 
such  as  has  been  seen  even  within  the  last  three  years,  forts 
would  be  dismantled  and  their  cannon  would  be  melted, 
while  the  vast  machinery  of  the  dock-yards  would  be  applied 
to  the  production  of  machines  destined  for  the  improvement, 
and  not  for  the  destruction,  of  man.  With  every  step  in  the 
progress  towards  increased  wealth  and  population,  causes  of 
quarrel  would  diminish,  while  the  self-defensive  power  would 
be  increased.  She  is  now  indisposed  to  quarrel  with  the 
United  States,  because  they  are  populous  and  rich ;  but  she 
feels  small  annoyance  at  a  dispute  with  the  scattered  people 
of  Buenos  Ayres,  who  have  land  in  abundance,  and  therefore 
cultivate  the  poorest  soils.  The  people  of  the  United  States 
use  spades  and  ploughs.  They  dispense  with  armies  and 


336  COLONIZATION. 

fleets,  and  hence  their  self-protective  power.  Were  they  to 
adopt  the  conscription  for  land  and  naval  service,  and  the 
endless  taxation  of  France,  they  would  soon  become  as  weak 
as  France.  That  power  has  always  maintained  the  largest 
armies  in  Europe ;  and  she  has,  with  the  exception  of  Eng- 
land, expended  most  largely  on  her  fleets,  and  to  what  pur- 
pose ?  From  the  days  of  Rollo  to  those  of  Blucher  and  Wel- 
lington, she  has  shown  herself,  when  the  time  of  trial  came, 
almost  incapable  of  self-defence,  whether  on  her  land  or  on 
her  sea  frontier.  The  tendency  of  her  whole  system  has  been 
to  take  from  the  labourer  the  wealth  that  he  produced,  and 
give  to  those  who  did  not  labour  the  disposal  of  it,  and  they 
have  invariably  disposed  of  it  to  suit  their  own  purposes. 

Such,  too,  has  been  the  tendency  of  the  colonization  sys- 
tem of  England.  It  has  given  to  secretaries  and  those  who 
desired  to  be  secretaries ;  admirals  and  generals,  and  those 
who  sought  to  place  themselves  at  the  head  of  fleets  and 
armies  ;  the  disposal  of  wealth  that  they  had  not  laboured  to 
produce :  and  the  consequence  has  been  waste,  for  no  man 
economizes  in  the  expenditure  of  that  for  which  he  does  not 
work.  Nor  has  that  been  the  only  mode  in  which  such  effect 
has  been,  and  is  now  being,  produced.  Large  sums  have 
been  forced  to  the  West  India  islands,  to  be  managed — and 
mismanaged — by  agents.  There,  wealth  did  not  grow: 
and  population  was  diminished  because  of  the  denial  to  the 
slave  of  the  comforts  necessary  for  his  physical  and  moral 
improvement :  and  necessary  to  increase  of  numbers.  Large 
sums  go  to  Canada,  for  the  construction  of  canals,  forts,  &c., 
to  be  expended  by  those  who  take  no  part  in  their  produc- 
tion. Large  sums  have  gone  to  Australia,  and  those  who 
desire  to  understand  the  mode  of  obtaining  small  results  with 
great  means,  may  study  with  advantage  the  proceedings 
of  several  of  the  governors.  Large  sums  are  on  their  way 
to  India,  to  make  railroads  ;  but  those  who  are  to  spend 
them  are  not  those  who  labour  to  produce  them.  The  whole 
system  of  colonization  tends  to  withdraw  capital  from  the 


COLONIZATION.  337 

control  of  its  owner,  and  diminishes  in  that  respect  the  power 
of  self-government ;  and  by  that  it  may  be  judged.  When 
wealth  is  permitted  freely  to  be  invested,  it  stays  at  home  ; 
as  is  the  case  in  New  England  to  an  extent  unknown  in  the 
world :  and  it  is  so,  simply  because  every  man  has  near  him 
a  little  money-shop,  or  manufacturing  establishment,  in  which 
he  invests  his  twenty,  fifty,  or  one  hundred  dollars,  as 
fast  as  earned,  preparatory  to  the  purchase  of  a  little  farm  ; 
the  opening  of  a  shop ;  or  the  establishment  of  a  little  fac- 
tory ;  and  by  the  very  act  making  a  market  for  his  further 
accumulations  :  enabling  the  farmer  to  sink  deeper  into  the 
rich  soil,  to  increase  his  products,  and  to  become  a  customer 
to  the  new  store.  Wealth,  there,  drops  gently  as  the  dew, 
and  everywhere  produces  the  same  effect  in  affording  life 
and  nourishment  to  all,  the  little  and  the  great :  stimulating 
the  one  to  exertion  that  he  may  become  great,  and  the  other 
to  increased  exertion  that  he  may  maintain  his  position.  If 
we  look  to  other  parts  of  the  Union,  we  shall  see  States  with- 
drawing capital  from  the  control  of  their  owners,  to  be 
wasted  in  making  canals  and  railroads  that  would  have 
been  profitable  had  they  been  made  by  the  men  who  la- 
boured to  produce  the  means  by  which  they  were  made  :  for 
then  they  would  have  been  made  economically.  Pennsylva- 
nia has,  by  restriction,  driven  wealth  out  of  the  State,  to 
be  sunk  in  banks  and  railroads  in  Mississippi :  while  borrow- 
ing the  capital  which  Englishmen  were  not  permitted  to  use 
at  home  to  make  their  own  roads  and  canals.  What  has  been 
the  consequence  ?  Waste,  loss,  and  ruin — temporary  at  least 
— everywhere.  If,  now,  we  inquire  who  have  been  the  small- 
est losers  by  the  calamitous  events  of  the  past  ten  years,  we 
shall  find  them  among  the  people  of  New  England — the  men 
who  cultivate  the  hardest  soil  in  the  Union :  that  which  would 
appear  to  afford  the  least  chance  for  profitable  investment : 
that  which  produces  ice  and  granite  in  abundance,  but 
affords  no  coal.  There  wealth  increases  more  rapidly  than 
elsewhere  in  the  world ;  and  there  it  tends  most  to  remain 
2U  29 


338  COLONIZATION. 

under  the  direct  and  immediate  control  of  the  owner.  Nev- 
ertheless, the  Yankees  are  the  greatest  colonists  in  the  world  ; 
and  there  are  none  so  ready  to  drive  a  railroad  through  New 
York  or  Ohio,  or  to  seize  on  the  profits  of  a  speculation  in 
opium,  or  in  bird's-nests :  but  when  they  do  so,  they  take 
care  that  the  men  who  manage  their  concerns  abroad  shall 
be  owners  like  themselves,  directly  interested  in  the  result.* 
The  great  capitalist  needs  the  aid  of  the  small  one  who  has 
little  but  his  time  and  talent  to  sell ;  and  hence  the  latter 
can  always  find  a  market  for  that  time  and  talent,  and  has 
always  before  him  the  knowledge  that  he  can  rise  if  he  will. 
He  goes  abroad,  to  stay  permanently  in  Illinois,  or  tempora- 
rily in  Canton  or  the  Sandwich  Islands,  not  because  he  must, 
but  because  he  will.  His  self-government  is  perfect,  because 
that  of  the  capitalist  is  so  ;  and  hence  it  is  that  colonization, 

*  «  No  fact  which  I  have  met  with  has  so  much  surprised  me  as  the  extra- 
ordinary diffusion  of  the  American  commerce,  and  the  great  spirit  of  enter- 
prise manifested  by  them.  In  many  places,  where  the  British  merchants  can 
tind  no  commerce  apparently  worth  their  attention,  the  Americans  carry  on  a 
lucrative  and  prosperous  trade  ;  and,  in  half-civilized  countries,  where  the 
largest  profits  are  always  realized,  the  Americans  are  so  eminently  successful, 
that  the  British  merchant  cannot  attempt  to  compete  with  them. 

"  This  appears  to  arise  from  the  following  circumstance : — The  masters  of 
the  American  vessels  engaged  in  this  kind  of  trade  are,  in  many  instances, 
whole,  and,  in  all  other  instances,  part,  owners  of  the  vessel  and  cargo ; 
whereas  masters  of  English  vessels  have  frequently  little  or  no  interest  in  the 
vessel  and  cargo ;  and  are,  moreover,  frequently  tied  down  by  directions  from 
the  firm  for  whom  they  act.  The  difference  between  these  two  cases  is  very 
great.  The  American  can  turn  every  circumstance  that  occurs  to  account ; 
he  can  instantly  enter  into  any  speculation  that  holds  out  a  prospect  of  suc- 
cess ;  and  can  act  with  rapidity  and  decision,  on  his  own  responsibility.  The 
English  master,  on  the  contrary,  has  usually  a  prescribed  line  of  duty  to  fulfil, 
from  which  he  cannot  vary."  * 

"  While  this  port  (Mombas,  on  the  east  coast  of  Africa,)  was  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  English,  but  one  British  merchant  vessel  arrived  there,  yet  three 
American  vessels  entered  the  harbour.  The  master  of  the  English  vessel  was 
not  a  part  owner — the  Americans  were  all  part  owners,  and  carried  on  a  lu- 
crative trade,  shipping  a  large  quantity  of  ivory ;  whereas  the  English  master 
was  placed  in  a  very  unpleasant  position ;  for,  owing  to  the  orders  he  had  re- 
ceived from  his  owners,  he  had  not  been  able  to  ship  a  cargo  suited  to  the 
market  of  Mombas;  and  if  Lieut.  Emery  had  not  kindly  cashed  a  bill  for 
him,  the  speculation  would  have  been  a  total  failure." — Grey's  Expeditions 
in  South  Australia. 


COLONIZATION.  339 

both  of  labour  and  of  capital,  goes  on  with  such  rapidity 
where  the  tendency  to  local  investment  is  so  great.  In  no 
part  of  the  world  are  the  necessities  of  man  so  small:  in 
none  are  his  powers  so  great. 

Such  would  become  the  case  in  England,  were  colonies 
abandoned,  fleets  sold,  and  armies  disbanded.  There  would, 
however,  be  no  more  dividends  of  Indian  taxes  collected 
on  the  principle  of  Mr.  Ricardo,  and  called  rents  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  grinding  the  poor  wretch  who  is  already  so  reduced 
by  taxation  that  he  cultivates  the  earth  unaided  by  spade, 
reaping-hook,  cart,  horse,  or  mule;  who  then  divides  the  pro- 
duce equally  between  himself  and  the  collector  of  rents  ;  then 
gives  half  the  balance  for  the  privilege  of  eating  a  little  salt 
in  his  bread  ;  and  finally  pounds  the  grain  with  a  stone,  for 
want  of  a  mill :  yet  happy  if,  after  affording  him  a  handful 
of  rice  per  day,  the  balance  be  sufficient  to  enable  him  at 
occasional  intervals  to  purchase  a  rag  to  cover  his  naked- 
ness. Neither  would  there  be  so  large  a  number  of  profita- 
ble offices  to  divide  among  younger  sons  of  wealthy  land- 
owners, but  fathers  would  then  see  the  necessity  of  provid- 
ing for  the  children  whom  they  had  begotten  for  their  own 
good  pleasure ;  and  the  small  landholder,  cultivating  his 
own  little  farm  for  his  own  profit,  and  therefore  well  culti- 
vating it,  would  gradually  replace  the  great  landholder  and 
his  great  son,  the  poor  cornet  of  dragoons,  or  navy  lieute- 
nant, execrating  the  peace  and  hoping  for  war,  plunder, 
and  promotion ;  and  that  other  son  who  seeks  employment 
in  the  Church  as  the  best  means  of  advancing  his  condition 
in  life,  and  watches  eagerly  for  the  death  of  the  incumbent 
of  his  father's  wealthy  parish  ;  or  pays  a  large  price  for  the 
privilege  of  participating  during  the  week  with  the  farmer  by 
aid  of  the  forced  division  of  crops  which  he  has  not  laboured 
to  produce,  while  teaching  on  Sunday  the  great  lesson,  «  do 
unto  your  neighbours  as  ye  would  that  they  should  do  unto 
you."  Rents  would  then  rise  rapidly  in  amount,  but  the 
proportion  which  they  would  bear  to  the  product  would  de- 


340  COLONIZATION. 

crease  rapidly.  The  man  who  worked  would  produce  more 
and  would  take  a  larger  proportion  of  that  increased  quan 
tity  as  the  reward  of  the  labour  and  skill  expended  :  while 
he  who  did  not  work,  although  receiving  more  in  amount, 
would  find  the  standard  of  living  rise  more  rapidly  than  his 
means,  and  would  see  that  if  he  did  nothing — if  he  stood 
still  while  the  rest  of  the  earth  moved — he  would  be  left  be- 
hind in  the  race.  The  class  of  great  men  ;  and  the  uneasy 
class,  with  good  blood  in  their  veins,  and  little  money  in  their 
pockets ;  and  the  pauper  class :  all  of  them,  in  all  ages  and 
nations,  the  disturbers  of  the  world  :  would  disappear,  and 
the  happy  and  prosperous  class ;  the  lovers  of  peace  and  har- 
mony ;  of  labour,  physical  and  intellectual ;  of  instruction, 
secular  or  religious  ;  of  wealth,  as  a  means  towards  the 
attainment  of  a  great  end,  and  not  as  the  end  itself;  of  that 
equality  which  secures  to  all  men  the  exercise  of  those  rights 
which  they  desire  to  enjoy  themselves, — and  secures  it  in  the 
ratio  of  their  performance  of  their  own  duties  ; — would  daily 
increase  in  number :  and  with  that  increase  would  England 
grow  for  ages  in  population  and  wealth :  leaving  it  for  future 
advocates  of  the  Malthusian  theory  to  determine  how  many 
centuries  were  to  elapse  before  it  would  become  necessary 
to  establish  what  is  called  "  systematic  colonization,"  by 
which  is  meant  the  substitution  of  the  will  of  the  fewr  who 
administer  the  government  and  expend  capital  which  they 
do  not  labour  to  produce,  for  that  of  the  many  who  do  labour 
and  wish  to  be  permitted  to  determine  for  themselves  where 
they  will  be  employed,  and  what  they  will  do  with  their 
wages.  Systematic  colonization  means  nothing  but  the  forced 
export  of  men  who  would  live  at  home  if  they  could,  and 
who  could  do  so  if  taxation  and  regulation  permitted ;  and 
its  advocates  will  invariably  be  found  among  those  wrho  de- 
rive their  means  of  support  from  the  proceeds  of  taxation, 
regulation,  and  monopoly. 

It  is  impossible  to  look  at  England,  or  Scotland,  without 
seeing  that  all  this  is  now  going  on.    The  landlord  is'vaking 


COLONIZATION.  341 

up  to  the  fact  that  he  is  losing  his  place  in  society,  and  that  if 
he  would  keep  it  he  must  work,  and  his  capital  must  work. 
His  rents  increase,  but  the  standard  of  living  rises  and  he  must 
economize,  or  his  rents  will  cease  to  grow.  The  outlet  for  his 
sons  in  the  army,  and  navy,  and  church,  and  colonies,  is  be- 
coming daily  less,  and  children  and  grandchildren  become 
more  numerous,  and  fewer  of  them  die  off.  He  must  provide 
for  them,  for  the  people  will  not.  Wars  are  not  as  profitable  as 
heretofore  :  and  the  prospect  is  that  in  the  lapse  of  a  little  time 
they  will  cease  to  occur.  Cotton  manufacturers,  and  spin- 
ners and  traders'  sons,  are  now  at  the  head  of  affairs,  and 
they  have  small  respect  for  men  who  are  fond  of  spoil, 
whether  in  the  form  of  the  plunder  of  a  city,  or  of  a  treasure- 
ship  :  or  in  that  of  tithes.  They  are,  it  is  true,  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  past  unsound  commercial  policy,  but  they 
are  far  better  than  the  men  who  represented  her  military 
policy.  Both,  however,  are  part  and  parcel  of  the  same 
system,  and  both  will  eventually  disappear.  All  are  learning 
to  work,  the  consequence  of  which  is  that  at  no  time  were  the 
better  soils  so  rapidly  brought  into  cultivation ;  at  no  time 
has  the  reward  of  labour  so  rapidly  increased :  and  at  no 
time  has  there  been  seen  so  strong  a  tendency  to  the  ap 
proach  of  the  period  when  every  man  would  feel  that  con- 
sideration by  the  world  is  the  reward  of  service  rendered  to 
the  world  by  the  exercise  of  physical  and  mental  faculties  : 
and  that  if  he  desire  to  eat  and  drink  largely,  he  must  work 
steadily  and  devotedly :  but  at  no  time  has  the  reward  of 
service  been  so  great.  The  habit  of  labour  brings  the  habit 
of  peace ;  the  sense  of  security ;  the  love  of  literature  and 
art;  the  happy  home,  and  the  leisure  for  its  enjoyment, 
rendered  doubly  grateful  by  the  necessity  for  exertion  of  the 
faculties  of  mind  and  body  at  other  times  and  elsewhere. 
The  great  landholder  no  longer  vegetates.  His  wife  no 
longer  dies  of  ennui.  Every  faculty  of  mind  and  body  is 
stimulated  into  action,  and  man  is  now  learning  to  live  by 
helping  those  around  to  live.  With  each  step  in  this  pro 

29* 


342  COLONIZATION. 

gress,  the  power  of  man  over  land,  and  over  himself,  will 
grow :  food  will  become  more  abundant :  and  schemes  of 
colonization  will  tend  to  disappear. 


MORE  than  ten  centuries  have  elapsed  since  France  com- 
menced the  work  of  colonization,  under  Pepin  and  Charle- 
magne :  substituting  the  barbarities  of  the  feudal  system  for  the 
peaceful  government  of  the  Lombards,  under  which  northern 
Italy  was  then  rapidly  advancing  towards  civilization.  From 
that  day  to  the  present  she  has  sent  colonies  throughout 
Italy,  and  into  Spain,  the  Netherlands,  Holland,  and  Ger- 
many ;  but  they  have  always  consisted  of  the  uneasy  class  : 
that  of  gentlemen  whose  pride  of  family  forbade  that  they 
should  work,  and  whose  wealth  went  little  further  than  was 
needed  for  the  provision  of  such  weapons  of  offence  as  were 
necessary  for  the  plunder  of  the  rich  cities  of  those  coun- 
tries :  in  turn,  Ghent  and  Metz,  Turin  and  Barcelona,  Milan, 
Florence  and  Naples.  The  consequence  has  been  that  they 
have  never  taken  root,  and  that  the  limits  of  France  are  now 
more  contracted  than  when  the  process  of  colonization  com- 
menced. Even  ancient  Gaul  itself  is  still  divided  into 
several  kingdoms,  between  which  there  exists  the  same 
feeling  of  antipathy  that  but  a  little  while  since  was  felt  by  the 
Bourguignon  and  the  Armagnac,  the  Breton  and  the  Norman, 
the  Gascon  and  the  Provencal.  War  has  produced  depopu- 
lation and  poverty,  driving  the  remaining  people  to  the 
poorer  lands  to  labour  by  themselves ;  whereas  peace  would 
have  produced  wealth  and  population  and  union :  and  all  Gaul 
would,  if  permitted,  long  since  have  formed  one  strong  and 
independent  state,  intersected  in  every  direction  by  roads 
and  canals,  and  requiring  neither  armies  nor  fleets  for  the 
preservation  of  its  independence.  The  attractive  power  of 
wealth  has  never  been  permitted  to  exist,  even  at  home  ;  for 
the  colonists  who  returned  gorged  with  the  plunder  of 


COLONIZATION.  343 

Italian  cities,  were  always  eager  for  the  plunder  of  Italian 
merchants  and  usurers  who  might,  incautiously,  venture 
within  their  grasp :  and  when  they  could  not  be  found,  they 
were  always  prepared  to  exercise  their  skill  upon  their 
fellow  countrymen.  Wealthy  England  and  Flanders  exer- 
cised a  strong  attractive  power  and  drew  largely  from 
France,  which  thus  lost  her  most  industrious  people  ;  the 
men  who  cultivated  the  richest  soils:  and  there  remained 
only  those  who  could  not  fly,  and  who,  limited  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  least  fertile  soils,  remained  poor,  and  thus 
has  France  itself  to  this  day  remained  poor. 

Poor  people  cannot  emigrate.  Voluntary  emigration  from 
France  has  therefore  never  existed.  For  centuries  has  she 
prosecuted  the  work  of  colonization,  but  always  with  ill 
success :  for  the  government  has  been  invariably  the  leader, 
and  the  work  has  been  attempted  with  the  sword,  and  with- 
out the  spade.  The  English  colonies  in  America  sought 
wealth  and  not  po\ver.  They  moved  on  gradually,  appro- 
priating land  as  they  needed  it  for  cultivation.  France 
allied  herself  with  the  savages,  and  endeavoured  to  seize  on 
the  whole  country  north  and  west  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Missis- 
sippi. The  one  prospered  and  desired  peace,  while  the 
other  was  poor  and  restless :  and  the  result  was  that  the 
peaceful  man  expelled  his  poor  and  troublesome  neighbour, 
as  the  only  means  of  preserving  peace.  The  Puritans  and 
Quakers  remained  :  ultimately,  perhaps,  to  combine  the  whole 
continent  in  one  great  union,  while  France  has  scarcely  a 
foot  of  ground  upon  it.  Thus  has  the  spade  triumphed  over 
the  sword. 

The  French  ministry  were  of  the  Ricardo  school  of  politi- 
cal economists.  They  thought  abundance  of  land  with  fine 
timber  and  flooded  by  innumerable  streams,  meant  wealth  ; 
and  they  gladly  undertook  the  settlement  of  Louisiana,  sending 
thither  the  rogues  and  vagabonds,  and  prostitutes,  of  Paris, 
from  whose  labours  large  returns  were  looked  for.  All  the 
world  was  eager  for  a  division  of  the  profits  ;  the  excitement 


344  COLONIZATION. 

exceeding  that  which  but  recently  has  prevailed  in  England, 
in  the  precise  ratio  which  the  gambling  spirit  of  poor  and 
anti- commercial  France,  accustomed  to  set  her  whole  fortunes 
on  the  hazard  of  a  battle,  was  greater  than  that  of  wealthy 
and  trading  England.  The  difference  between  the  two  con- 
sisted, however,  only  in  the  extent  to  which  the  madness  was 
carried. 

Everywhere  else  the  result  has  been  the  same.  The  Eng- 
lish colonists  of  India  went  partly  for  the  purposes  of  trade, 
and  England  had  power  to  maintain  trade.  Those  of  France 
went  to  fight,  because  the  power  to  maintain  trade  did  not 
exist.  France  exported  chiefly  men  and  arms,  and  with 
those  commodities  the  market  of  India  was  already  over- 
stocked. The  merchant  expelled  the  soldier. 

She  is  now  colonizing  Tahiti  and  Algeria,  as  she  did  Al- 
sace, Lorraine,  and  Franche  Comte  :  by  first  converting  them 
into  deserts.  Algeria  is  said  now  to  be  flourishing,  and  it 
may  so  continue  as  long  as  she  shall  continue  to  send  annu- 
ally fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  men,  and  some  hundreds  of 
millions  of  money  to  pay  them  ;  but  when  those  supplies 
shall  cease,  Algeria  will  follow  the  course  of  all  her  previous 
colonies.  There  are  now  strong  inducements  to  go  there. 
The  man  who  stays  at  home  pays  those  who  go,  and  taxes 
swallow  up  one-fourth  of  the  whole  product  of  the  kingdom. 
If  he  go  himself,  he  ceases  to  be  a  payer  and  becomes  a 
payee. 

Were  the  colony  this  day  put  up  to  sale,  it  would  not  pro- 
duce, in  the  market  of  the  world  a  single  dollar.  France 
has  wasted  a  hundred  thousand  lives,  and  many  hundred  mil- 
lions of  money  in  buying  land  possessing  no  intrinsic  value 
whatsoever,  w^hile  holding  twelve  millions  of  acres  of  her  best 
soils  still  in  forest :  while  her  coal  and  iron  are  yet  almost 
untouched :  while  her  marl  and  her  lime  remain  where  na- 
ture placed  them,  beneath  the  poor  soils  now  cultivated  for 
want  of  means  to  bring  into  activity  the  better  ones  :  while 
meadows  remain  undrained  and  untouched  by  the  spade  or 


COLONIZATION.  345 

the  plough  :  while  a  large  portion  of  her  land  is  held  in  com- 
mon :  while  the  product  of  her  agriculture  is  but  five  times 
the  seed :  while  importing  corn,  and  coal,  and  iron :  and 
while  almost  destitute  of  roads  or  canals  by  which  the  little 
produce  of  her  agriculture  might  reach  a  market.  She  wants 
wealth,  and  she  buys  more  land  !  Such  was  her  policy  in 
America,  and  we  have  seen  the  result.  Such  will  it  be  in  Af- 
rica. The  people  of  France  are  too  poor  to  found  colonies, 
and  France  is  too  poor  to  keep  them  when  founded.  If  she 
cannot  now,  after  thousands  of  years  of  occupation,  with  the 
advantage  of  the  wealth  that  has  been  slowly  accumulated, 
cultivate  her  good  soils  at  home,  what  hope  can  there  be  that 
she  will  do  so  abroad  ?  There  is  none.  We  heard  of  the 
prosperity  of  Australian  colonies,  and  we  now  hear  of  that  of 
Algeria.  The  one  was,  and  the  other  is,  supported  by  taxa- 
tion upon  the  people  at  home,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  one 
is  as  factitious  as  was  that  of  the  other.  The  characteris- 
tics of  French  colonial  policy  are  restlessness  and  feebleness. 
That  of  all  successful  colonies  is  quiet  energy. 


The  colonization  of  the  United  States  differs  from  that  of  the 
two  countries  we  have  considered,  in  the  great  fact  that  they 
desire  no  subjects.  The  colonists  are  equal  with  the  people 
of  the  States  from  which  they  sprang,  and  hence  the  quiet 
and  beautiful  action  of  the  system.  The  poor  and  widely 
scattered  three  millions  of  1783 :  inhabitants  of  the  thirteen 
provinces  :  have  grown  to  more  than  twenty  millions,  inhabit- 
ing thirty  states  ;  of  whom  every  man  exercises  independent 
action,  or  is  in  train  soon  to  do  so,  even  although  now  deemed 
and  held  to  be  a  slave.  Population  has  increased  with  won- 
derful rapidity,  but  wealth  has  far  outgrown  it.  The  two 
forces — the  centripetal  and  the  centrifugal — here  balance  each 
other  perfectly,  so  far  as  regards  internal  action :  but  external 
action  increases  greatly  the  centrifugal  force,  and  thus  pre- 
2X 


346  COLONIZATION. 

vents,  to  a  vast  extent,  the  growth  of  wealth,  of  comfort, 
of  civilization,  a:.id  of  happiness.  Factories,  steam-engines, 
and  other  articles  of  wealth  attract  the  labourer  towards  the 
place  on  which  he  stands.  Railroads  and  canals  attract  him 
towards  uncleared  land :  or  half-cleared  land.  On  one  hand, 
he  sees  the  little  bank :  or  the  manufacturing  corporation : 
saving  funds,  in  which  he  may  deposit  the  surplus  of  his  earn- 
ings until  ready  to  open  a  store  :  or  buy  a  little  farm :  or 
commence  manufacturing  on  his  own  account.  On  the  other, 
he  sees  the  larger  farm,  of  eighty,  one  hundred  and  sixty, 
three  hundred  and  twenty,  or  even  six  hundred  and  forty 
acres,  that  may  require  the  unceasing  labour  of  his  life  to 
bring  into  cultivation :  but  which  will  be  his  own,  and  an 
inheritance  for  his  children.  That  is  to  be  his  savings'  bank. 
In  it  he  deposits  all  the  spare  half  hours  and  quarter  hours 
that,  working  for  another,  would  be  wasted.  He  has  every 
inducement  to  economize  his  time  and  money,  for  his  farm 
wants,  and  will  pay  for,  both.  He  may  be  an  independent 
farmer,  if  he  will :  and  he  does  will  it.  Such  would,  how- 
ever, more  frequently  be  the  case,  could  he  remain  at  home. 
Throughout  all  the  old  states  land  is  held  in  quantities  far 
too  large  for  thorough  cultivation,  and  the  result  is  seen  in 
the  fact  that  meadow-lands  remain  undrained :  that  men 
still  cultivate  clay  unable  to  bring  it  into  combination  with  the 
lime  :  and  that  vast  bodies  of  wood  still  cover  the  most  fertile 
soils  ;  whereas,  were  concentration  permitted,  wealth  would 
grow  at  double  pace  :  land  would  become  more  divided :  and 
men  would  obtain  from  twenty  acres  highly  cultivated,  a  re- 
ward twice  exceeding  that  which  they  have  from  farms  in 
the  wilderness  ten  times  as  large. 

The  government  facilitates  this  operation,  by  purchasing 
the  lands  from  the  poor  remnants  of  the  original  occupants 
now  fast  passing,  and  necessarily  so,  out  of  existence.  It 
pays  them  well,  by  granting  them  annuities  far  exceeding 
any  value  their  land  could  have  obtained  had  not  the  white 
man  brought  with  him  the  love  of  labour ;  the  habit  of  order 


COLONIZATION.  347 

and  economy,  and  the  consequent  power  of  accumulating 
wealth  :  qualities  which  they  themselves  did  not  possess. 
By  their  aid  the  poor  Indian  is  enabled,  at  every  step  of 
their  progress,  to  acquire  food  more  readily  than  before,  as 
all  may  see  who  will  compare  the  situation  of  the  distant 
tribes  with  that  of  the  nearer  ones.  The  habits  of  the  savage 
are,  however,  wasteful.  He  hates  labour,  and  he  loves  rum 
and  war  ;  and  he  cannot  avail  himself  of  the  advantages  that 
are  offered  to  him  by  civilization. 

The  price  that  is  paid  appears  to  be,  and  is,  small,  yet  it 
is  more  than  they  are  really  worth,  and  they  are  resold  for  less 
than  cost :  as  we  have  already  shown.  They  are  held  in 
trust,  not  for  Americans  alone  but  for  the  world.  The  man 
of  every  clime,  American  or  English,  Dutchman  or  Dane, 
Swede  or  Norwegian,  Frenchman  or  German,  Catholic  or 
Episcopalian,  Calvinist  or  Lutheran,  Mohammedan  or  Pagan, 
may  claim  and  receive  his  share  in  the  trust,  on  payment  of 
a  sum  that  barely  indemnifies  the  community  by  whom  they 
have  been  acquired,  for  the  cost  of  purchase,  survey,  and  sale : 
and  without  including  a  thousand  expenses  incident  to  the 
operation,  among  which  may  be  included  nearly  the  whole 
cost  of  the  army,  as  its  chief  employment  has  heretofore  been 
that  of  providing  for  the  security  of  the  persons  and  property 
of  settlers  on  those  lands. 

Here  we  may  see  and  trace  the  true  cause  of  value  in 
land.  The  millions  of  acres  belonging  to  the  savage  are 
valueless.  He  starves,  surrounded  by  rich  meadows,  covered 
with  the  finest  timber.  The  white  man  approaches,  and  roads 
are  made  :  and  land  acquires  some  value,  for  which  he  is  paid, 
although  he  has  contributed  nothing  towards  its  production. 
It  is  surveyed,  and  by  this  simple  act  it  acquires  more  value. 
At  length  it  reaches  the  minimum  price,  and  some  of  it  is 
sold.  Further  roads  and  settlements  are  made,  and  more 
is  sold,  and  when  all  shall  come  to  be  disposed  of,  the  true 
account  of  expenditure  and  receipt  will  not  balance.  There 
will  remain  a  large  debit  to  the  public  lands,  although  it  will 


348  COLONIZATION. 

not  appear,  much  of  it  being  charged  to  other  accounts  :  and 
most  of  it  having  been  paid  by  individuals  in  the  form  of 
taxes.  If  land  had  any  intrinsic  value,  there  would  be  a 
large  profit.  As  it  has  none  :  as  it  always  sells  for  less  than 
cost :  there  is  a  loss. 

The  first  settlement  made  the  wave  of  colonization  rolls 
on,  the  poorest  emigrant  taking  the  lead  and  preparing  with 
his  small  means  a  little  of  the  poorer  land,  and  a  little 
house,  for  the  better  man  that  is  to  follow.  To  him  he  sells 
his  improvements,  pushing  on  ahead  to  perform  again  the 
same  operation.  The  settlement  grows  to  be  a  State,  and 
quietly  forms  for  itself  a  constitution  of  government,  when,  of 
right,  it  takes  a  place  in  the  Union.  From  first  to  last,  self- 
government  is  the  rule.  The  colonist  goes  when  and  where 
he  pleases,  consulting  nobody.  He  and  his  fellows  make 
their  own  constitution  of  government,  and  elect  their  own  go- 
vernors, legislators,  members  of  Congress,  and  local  officers. 

The  beautiful  effect  of  the  habit  of  self-government  is  fully 
shown  in  the  recent  settlement  of  Oregon.  The  people  were 
beyond  the  limits  of  any  territorial  government,  and  they 
formed  a  system  for  themselves ;  doing  it  quietly  and  perfectly : 
and  now  we  have  the  annual  message  of  the  governor  of  the 
little  State  as  regularly  as  that  of  the  President  of  the  Union. 
They  have,  happily  for  themselves,  no  great  men  among 
them,  and  therefore  all  may  become  great. 

To  those  familiar  with  the  land  system  of  the  United  States, 
it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  speak  of  its  beautiful  simplicity  :  or 
of  the  care  with  which  it  guards,  so  far  as  law  can  do  so,  the 
rights  of  the  poorer  class  of  settlers,  wrho  squat  upon  lands 
before  the  time  arrives  for  selling  them.  In  perfect  harmony 
with  this  simplicity  is  the  quiet  grandeur  of  its  results  :  so 
widely  different  from  those  of  the  recent  settlements  in  Aus- 
tralia. The  one  is  natural,  the  other  systematic  colonization. 
The  one  is  governed  by  the  practical  good  sense  of  men  who 
think  and  act  for  themselves,  while  the  other  is  directed  by 
men  who  think  that  their  fellow  men  are  not  competent  to 


COLONIZATION.  349 

determine  what  is  best  /or  their  interests.  The  one  class 
know  that  men  must  scatter  themselves  over  the  poor  lands 
before  attempting  the  rich  ones.  The  other  thinks  that  if 
land  were  put  at  «  a  sufficient  price,"  men  might  be  com- 
pelled to  cultivate  the  rich  ones  first.  The  only  perfectly 
successful  colonization  in  the  world  is  that  of  the  United 
States  :  and  it  is  successful  because  its  practice  is  in  direct 
opposition  to  the  theory  of  Mr.  Ricardo  and  his  followers, 
who  cannot  find  in  it,  from  first  to  last,  a  single  fact  in  sup- 
port of  their  doctrines. 

The  system  is  a  good  one  ;  but  it  would  be  far  better  were 
it  less  needed.  The  same  labour  that  has  been  expended 
in  the  colonization  of  Texas,  Oregon,  and  California,  would 
have  yielded  thrice  the  results  had  concentration  on  the  older 
lands  been  possible.  The  man  who  buys  a  share  in  lands 
already  cleared  and  cultivated,  obtains  it  at  far  less  than  cost : 
while  he  who  goes  to  the  new  ones  must  pay  cost,  and  a 
large  cost  it  is.  Were  that,  however,  the  only  loss,  it  would 
be  cause  of  less  regret  than  now  it  is,  when  we  see  that  the 
acquisition  of  Texas  has  involved  the  country  in  a  war  that 
has  already  cost  perhaps  fifty  millions,  and  may  result  in  an 
expenditure  of  hundreds  of  millions.  That  war  is  due  to  the 
existence  of  the  repulsive  force  produced  by  the  misdirection 
of  the  wealth  and  labour  of  England.  Had  the  people  of  the 
United  States  been  permitted  to  bring  into  activity  the  fertile 
soils  of  the  older  States,  concentrating  their  population,  and 
placing  the  consumer  by  the  side  of  the  producer,  Texas, 
and  Oregon,  and  California,  would  have  offered  no  induce- 
ment for  settlement :  labour  would  have  been  more  produc- 
tive :  wealth  would  now  be  far  greater:  and  the  country  would 
be  still  at  peace.  The  universal  thirst  for  land  results  from 
the  necessity  for  occupying  much  land,  to  be  badly  cultivated 
by  men  who  remain  much  poorer  than  they  need  be.  Were 
concentration  now  rendered  possible,  that  thirst  would  disap- 
pear, for  men  would  obtain  large  returns  from  smaller  surfaces, 
and  become  rich :  and  peaceful  habits  would  come  with  wealth. 

30 


350  COLONIZATION. 

Lastly,  we  come  to  the  colonization  of  Africa,  undertaken 
with  the  most  benevolent  motives,  by  men  who  thought  they 
saw  in  that  vast  and  almost  unoccupied  land,  with  its 
abundance  of  the  most  fertile  soils,  an  outlet  for  the  negroes 
of  the  south:  but  who  have  long  since  found  that  the  poverty 
of  Africa  exercised  small  attractive  force  when  set  against 
that  of  the  wealth  of  the  Union.  There,  as  elsewhere,  men 
have  had  to  commence  with  the  poor  soils,  and  to  enable 
them  to  do  so  and  prosper,  constant  contributions  have  been 
and  will  continue  to  be  required.  The  process  will,  never- 
theless, be  continued,  and  by  it  civilization  will  be  carried 
into  the  heart  of  Africa :  and  thus  will  that  quarter  of  the 
globe  be  made  to  participate  in  the  benefits  resulting  from  the 
peaceful  policy  and  growing  wealth  of  the  United  States. 

African  colonization  has  been  opposed  by  many  who  fail 
to  see  that  when  men  remain  at  peace  and  permit  wealth  to 
grow,  the  great  laws  of  nature  invariably  triumph  over  the 
weak  and  pitiful  inventions  of  man.  They  would  have  im- 
mediate, unconditional,  emancipation,  result  how  it  may. 
We  propose  now  to  show  what  has  been  the  course  of 
southern  colonization,  with  a  view  to  show  how  perfectly  the 
facts  observed  have  been  in  accordance  with  the  views  sub- 
mitted to  the  consideration  of  our  readers  ;  and,  as  we  hope, 
to  satisfy  *them  that  here  as  everywhere  slavery  came  with 
poverty,  and  that  freedom  comes  with  growing  wealth  and 
population :  that  here,  as  everywhere,  the  latter  are  compan- 
ions of  peaceful  and  quiet  action  :  and  that  if  they  would  free 
the  slave  with  most  advantage  to  himself,  they  must  act  with, 
and  not  against,  the  man  to  \vhom  the  laws  have  guarantied 
the  right  of  property  in  that  slave  and  in  his  children.  Well 
understood,  the  interests  of  all  are  in  perfect  harmony  with 
each  other,  and  point,  as  we  believe,  invariably  towards  the 
same  course  of  action. 


COLONIZATION.  351 

Raleigh's  first  settlement  in  Carolina  was  that  of  a  man  se- 
duced by  the  idea  of  speedy  wealth  to  be  derived  from  the 
cultivation  of  fertile  soils.  It  was  made  on  the  Island  of 
Roanoke,  described  as  the  paradise  of  the  world,  for  the 
luxuriance  of  its  vegetation,  the  plumage  of  its  birds,  and 
the  brilliancy  of  its  skies.  The  soil  was  too  rich,  and  his 
people  perished.  Upon  these  attempts,  he  wasted  .£40,000, 
for  those  days  a  vast  sum :  and  it  was  a  total  loss,  the  result 
being  to  him  even  worse  than  that  realized  by  the  founder 
of  Pennsylvania.  The  next  colonization  of  North  Carolina 
was  voluntary,  and,  therefore,  successful.  Settlers  came  from 
New  England,  and  exercised  the  right  of  self-government 
by  selecting  for  themselves ;  and  they  went  at  once  to  the 
poor  soils  on  which  they  could  raise  corn  for  subsistence, 
while  engaged  in  the  work  of  clearing  richer  lands  and  ex- 
changing the  lumber  for  clothing  and  other  commodities. 
Other  settlers  followed  ;  voluntary  emigrants  from  Virginia, 
driven  by  persecution  for  difference  of  religious  opinion  :  and 
they  also  prospered,  because  they  selected  for  themselves. 
Prosperity  produced  union  and  strength,  and  when  they  at 
a  subsequent  period  found  themselves  oppressed  by  the  pro- 
prietary governor  of  the  state  that  was  to  be  governed  on 
the  system  devised  by  Locke  and  Shaftesbury,  they  expelled 
him  and  determined  to  govern  themselves.  They  had  be- 
come colonists  by  virtue  of  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  self- 
government  :  and  they  were  ready  to  work  and  to  fight  to 
maintain  that  right.  They  had  no  great  men  for  leaders, 
and  they  would  not  have  landlords  claiming  rent  for  the  use 
of  lands  whose  whole  rent-producing  powers  were  due  to 
their  own  exertions.  Thus  colonized  by  men  who  laboured 
for  themselves  ;  thought  for  themselves ;  and  acted  for  them- 
selves ;  North  Carolina  has  always  been  distinguished  among 
the  Southern  States  for  the  simplicity  of  her  institutions  :  for 
the  moderation  of  her  expenditure :  and  for  her  attachment 
to  freedom. 

Virginia  was  granted  to  the  noblem-en,  gentlemen,  and 


352  COLONIZATION. 

merchants  of  London,  in  whom  was  vested  the  whole  ma- 
nagement of  the  colony ;  while  even  the  local  councillors 
held  their  appointment  from  the  king,  and  at  his  pleasure. 
In  him  was  vested  supreme  legislative  authority,  the  emi- 
grant being  denied  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  self-govern- 
ment in  any  single  matter :  even  in  that  of  worshipping  the 
Deity  after  his  own  fashion :  the  Church  of  England  being 
established  as  the  church,  and  only  church,  of  the  colony. 
These  noblemen  and  gentlemen  were  absentee  landlords, 
who  wanted  rents ;  and  they  sent  tenants,  instead  of  creating 
land-owners.  As  a  necessary  consequence,  the  character  of 
the  emigrants  was  inferior.  They  were  men  who  expected 
to  reap  from  fertile  soils  the  same  large  profits  that  have  so 
recently  been  looked  for,  and  with  such  entire  confidence,  by 
the  settlers  in  Australia  ;  and  they  were  of  the  same  class  : 
poor  gentlemen  who  knew  not  how  to  work.  Of  the  first 
expedition,  consisting  in  all  of  one  hundred  and  five  persons, 
but  twelve  were  labourers;  and  the  mechanics  were  very  few 
in  number.  Their  sanguine  expectations  were  disappointed. 
Food  could  be  obtained  only  as  a  reward  for  labour,  and  they 
were  of  the  class  not  born  to  work.  The  next  expedition 
consisted,  as  before,  of  "  vagabond  gentlemen,"  to  whom 
were  now  added  a  few  goldsmiths,  in  search  of  mines  and 
not  of  the  means  of  acquiring  wealth  by  honest  labour.  The 
landlords  now  demanded  pay  from  their  poor  tenants ;  and 
threatened  that  if  the  ship  returned  without  a  full  freight, 
they  would  leave  the  colony  to  perish.  In  reply  to  this  they 
were  informed  by  Captain  Smith,  to  whom  it  was  now  no 
secret  that  men  must  commence  with  poor  soils,  that  he 
wanted  «  carpenters,  husbandmen,  gardeners,  blacksmiths, 
masons,  and  diggers  up  of  trees'  roots  :"  of  whom,  as  he  told 
them,  thirty  would  be  more  valuable  "than  a  thousand  such 
as  we  have."  Land  was  abundant,  and  they  could  select 
at  pleasure  from  among  the  fertile  soils ;  but  labour  was  fol- 
lowed by  small  returns,  because  they  had  to  cultivate  poor 
soils.  New  subscriptions  became  necessary,  and  now  num- 


COLONIZATION.  353 

bers  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  became  proprietors ;  where- 
upon grants  of  new  powers  were  obtained  from  the  govern- 
ment, and  the  landlords  became  sole  masters.  A  governor 
and  captain-general,  holding  his  appointment  for  life,  was 
now  sent  out ;  and  was  accompanied  by  stately  officers  with 
high-sounding  titles,  and  charges  with  nominal  duties,  but 
real  claims  to  be  paid  for  the  services  they  might  be  supposed 
to  render.  The  governor  was  to  possess  absolute  power  :  a 
necessary  consequence  of  which  was,  that  the  emigrants  who 
accompanied  him  were  men  who,  claiming  to  exercise  no 
rights,  respected  none:  dissolute  gallants,  impoverished  gen- 
tlemen, broken  tradesmen,  rakes,  and  libertines :  men  who 
preferred  swords  to  axes.  Idleness  and  vice,  jealousy  and 
hatred,  abounded.  Poverty,  too,  abounded,  and  they  could 
not  pay  taxes.  In  default  of  other  modes  of  contribution, 
lotteries  were  instituted,  the  profits  of  which  went  to  the  sup- 
port of  government ;  and  thus  the  landlords  contributed  to 
maintain  in  them  the  gambling  spirit  which  had  led  them  to 
the  New  World.  As  gentlemen  could  not  work,  and  food 
could  not  be  obtained  without  severe  labour,  the  importation 
of  labourers  under  bonds  of  servitude  had  been,  from  the 
first,  common ;  and  the  trade  in  men  became,  by  degrees, 
lucrative :  those  who  had  cost  £S  and  <£10,  being  sold  as 
high,  sometimes,  as  £60.  Trade  was  stimulated  by  such 
profits ;  particularly  as  the  importer  obtained  from  the  noble- 
men and  gentlemen  proprietors  a  grant  of  fifty  acres  of  land 
for  each  person  thus  introduced  :  and  thus  did  the  aristocracy 
of  England  establish  the  slave  trade  of  Virginia.*  Slaves 
worked  hard,  and  were  hardly  treated  :  the  gentlemen  owners 
employed  themselves  in  hunting,  fishing,  cultivating  the 
breed  of  horses,  and  other  similar  amusements :  and  the  go- 


*  In  the  seventeenth  century,  the  gentlemen  of  England  gave  the  land,  and 
sold  the  slave.  In  the  nineteenth,  the  plan  is  different.  They  now  sell  the 
land,  and  give  the  slave.  The  "  systematic  colonization"  of  our  time  differs 
in  scarcely  any  thing  else  from  that  which  distinguished  the  age  of  Jeffries  and 
James  II. 

2  Y  30* 


354  COLONIZATION. 

vernors  and  officers  who  represented  the  noble  proprietors 
plundered  the  colonists,  and  cheated  their  employers.*  At 
the  close* of  fifteen  years,  after  an  expenditure  of  .£60,000, 
we  find  the  former  numbering  but  six  hundred.  Neither  popu- 
lation nor  wealth  can  grow,  although  fertile  land  is  abundant. 
Factions  arise  among  the  proprietors,  discontented  with  the 
small  returns  to  their  investments.  Turbulence  among  the 
settlers  is  followed  by  massacre  by  the  savages ;  and  the 
number  of  plantations  is  reduced  from  eighty  down  to  eight. f 
Next  we  have  "a  petition  of  grace"  to  the  government  of 
England  for  a  monopoly  of  the  right  of  supplying  tobacco  : 
and  thus  the  first  application  for  interference  with  trade,  on 
this  continent,  may,  we  believe,  be  traced  to»Virginia.  The 
colonists  who  do  not  work  themselves,  and  cultivate  their  lands 
by  aid  of  slave  labour,  cannot  compete  with  other  colonists 
who  do  work.  The  petition  is  granted :  but  the  crown  now 
determines  to  have  the  right  of  monopolizing  the  tobacco  the 
poor  people  have  to  sell,  thus  converting  the  grant  into  a 
means  of  taxation.  The  company  of  noble  proprietors  is  now 
dissolved,  the  result  being,  as  in  all  similar  cases  it  has  been, 
total  loss. if  The  control  of  the  colony  passing  to  the  crown, 
its  emancipation  is  followed  by  a  very  brief  period  of  im- 
provement ;  but  governors  are  now  appointed  favourable  to 
the  claims  of  those  who  desire  large  grants  of  land,  with  con- 
cessions of  jurisdiction:  and  thus  estates  grow  large,  requiring 
constant  increase  in  the  shipments  of  white  slaves  from  Eng- 
land. Land  thus  concentrates  itself,  and  man  becomes,  here 
as  everywhere,  poor  and  disunited.  Frequent  quarrels  with 
the  Indians  are  followed  by  massacres  of  the  whites,  and 
population  is  thus  restrained  :  and  without  population  wealth 
cannot  grow.  Slaves  cultivate  poor  soils,  and  masters  amuse 


*  In  this  portion  of  the  history,  striking  resemblances  in  the  two  periods  may 
be  found. 

•f-  New  Zealand,  in  the  present  century,  is  the  pendant  to  Virginia  in  the 
seventeenth. 

$  Here,  again,  may  be  found  the  counterpart  of  Australia. 


COLONIZATION.  355 

themselves  with  hunting ;  expending  on  horses  much  of  the 
large  proportion  of  the  fruits  of  the  soil  which  falls  to  their 
share.  The  Revolution  in  England  now  causes  a  large  addi- 
tion to  the  population,  in  the  form  of  cavaliers :  "  men  of 
consideration :"  bringing  with  them  the  dissolute  habits  en- 
gendered by  civil  war :  and  churchmen,  eager  to  enforce  in 
the  New  World  the  rights,  of  the  exercise  of  which  they 
had  been  deprived  in  the  Old.  The  population  is  now 
twenty  thousand,  of  whom  the  blacks  constitute  less  than 
one-fiftieth  part:  although  thirty  years  have  now  elapsed 
since  the  importation  of  the  first  African  slaves.  At  the  date 
of  the  Restoration  we  find  landed  proprietors  possessing  two 
thousand  acjes,  and  spending  their  lives  in  indolence.  The 
horse  is  fully  cared  for,  and  the  breed  is  highly  improved. 
The  « planter's  pace"  has  become  proverbial.  Man  is, 
however,  less  carefully  provided  for,  because  of  the  constant 
accession  of  pilgrims  to  the  New  World  under  orders  from 
mayors  and  justices  of  the  west  of  England,  who  divide 
among  themselves  the  profits  of  the  trade.  Land  thus  con- 
tinues to  grow  in  power  as  man  declines.  The  poor  soils 
only  are  yet  cultivated,  for  wealth  grows  at  "the  planter's 
pace," — always  a  slow  one  in  this  regard.  Roads  are  mere 
horse-paths.  Bridges  are  unknown.  The  only  coin  known 
in  the  payment  of  debts  is  tobacco.  Exchanges  are  few, 
and  towns  have  scarcely  an  existence.  Schools  and  printing- 
presses  are  unknown. 

Step  by  step  we  trace  the  progress  of  an  aristocracy, 
with  increasing  selfishness  and  increasing  disregard  for 
the  rights  of  those  by  whom  they  are  surrounded ;  the 
natural  result  of  colonization  by  the  class  to  whom  labour  is 
a  sacrifice :  and  here,  as  everywhere,  this  is  accompanied 
by  increasing  incapacity  for  self-defence,  either  for  the 
maintenance  of  their  own  rights,  or  those  of  their  fellow- 
citizens.  Royalist  emigrants,  elated  at  the  Restoration, 
now  become  masters.  Acts  of  conformity  are  passed. 
Salaries  and  taxes  grow  larger,  while  the  land  is  exempt 


356  ^  COLONIZATION. 

from  contributions.  Magistrates  assess  county  taxes  at  their 
pleasure,  and  landholders  form  courts  that  judge  without 
appeal.  Burgesses  pay  themselves  liberally  for  their  services 
in  voting  taxes,  while  limiting  the  right  of  suffrage  to  free- 
holders and  housekeepers :  and  submit  to  the  provisions  of 
the  navigation  act  because  too  poor  to  own  ships  by  which 
they  may  evade  it  as  do  the  people  of  New  England,  now 
becoming  rich  from  the  cultivation  of  a  sterile  soil  by  the 
hands  of  freemen.  Land  grows  in  power  daily,  and  man, 
great  and  small,  becomes  daily  weaker.  Voluntary  immi- 
gration has  no  existence,  because  the  markets  are  well  sup- 
plied with  slaves  from  Bristol  and  other  English  ports,  and 
freemen  could  not  exist  upon  the  small  proportion  retained 
by  the  producer  out  of  the  very  small  returns  obtained  from 
land  constantly  cropped :  which,  too,  is  cultivated  with 
machinery  so  indifferent  that  the  top  soil  alone  comes  into 
action.  Much  of  the  wealth  of  the  colony  goes  therefore 
to  «  knavish  justices,"  and  kidnappers,  in  England,  whereas, 
under  a  different  system,  it  wrould  make  roads  and  build 
ships :  and  growing  wealth  would  then  exercise  a  gently 
attractive  power  over  men  who  could  govern  themselves, 
and  travel  at  their  own  cost.  Aristocracy  grows  daily. 
The  tendency  which  prevailed  in  the  earlier  days  of  the 
colony,  to  a  division  of  property  among  the  members  of 
the  family,  now  ceases  to  exist,  and  the  law  of  primogeni- 
ture becomes  the  general  rule  of  action.  The  land  becomes 
still  more  powerful,  and  the  people  become  still  more 
weak.  The  death  of  a  slave  from  excess  of  punishment 
ceases  to  be  punishable  by  law,  and  it  is  declared  lawful  to 
wound,  or  even  to  kill  them,  in  making  their  escape.  Among 
the  different  portions  of  society,  or  among  the  members  of 
the  same  portion,  there  exists  no  tendency  to  union  or  har- 
mony ;  because,  as  wealth  cannot  grow,  men  are  still  forced 
to  scatter  themselves  over  the  poor  soils,  and  concentration 
is  therefore  impossible.  Forests  still  cover  the  most  fertile 
lands,  and  swamps  capable  of  yielding  vast  returns  to 


COLONIZATION.  357 

labour  are  interspersed  between  the  little  settlements.  The 
very  few  have  fine  houses :  but  log-houses,  of  one  story,  in 
which  shutters  supply  the  want  of  glass,  are  the  ordinary 
residences  of  men  who  purchase  slaves,  read  no  books  or 
newspapers,  and  tolerate  no  lawyers :  while  children  grow 
up  uneducated,  because  of  the  total  want  of  schools.  What 
then  must  be  the  condition  of  the  slave?  What  could 
be  his  proportion  of  the  product  of  his  labour?  Aris- 
tocracy is  here,  as  elsewhere  in  all  countries  and  at  all 
periods,  marked  by  turbulence  and  discord.  Rebellion, 
civil  war,  and  carnage,  coupled  with  the  display  of  avarice 
and  rapacity  in  a  high  degree,  fill  up  several  years  of  the 
colonial  history,  during  all  of  which  we  observe  a  steady 
influx  of  English  slaves :  sometimes  young  persons  kid- 
napped and  hurried  on  board  of  ship  ;  and  at  others,  persons 
charged  with  small  crimes,  who  prefer  being  sold  by  the 
magistrates  and  judges  rather  than  risk  confinement  in  such 
horrid  prisons  as  those  which  existed  in  the  days  when  land 
was  absolute  and  the  people  weak.*  The  arrival  of  a  noble 
governor  is  distinguished  by  the  doubling  of  the  salary  of 
his  office,  as  necessary  to  the  maintenance  of  his  dignity : 
and  by  the  relinquishment  on  the  part  of  the  aristocratic 
assembly  of  all  control  over  taxation,  at  a  time  when  from 
the  extreme  impoverishment  and  restless  state  of  the  people, 
economy  was  more  than  ever  necessary.  Failing  to  respect 
the  rights  of  those  beneath  them,  they  are  unable  to  guard 
their  own,  and  thus  oppression  and  weakness  are  seen 
going  hand  in  hand  together.  Rebellions  and  executions 
follow  in  the  train  of  tyranny  and  rapacity.  His  successor, 
another  of  the  noble  race,  fruges  consumers  nati,  dis- 
tinguished, even  beyond  his  successor  for  rapacity  and 
for  meanness,  divides  perquisites  with  his  clerks.  The  re- 
bellion of  Monmouth  now  adds  largely  to  the  population  of 

*  The  whole  system  has  its  counterpart  in  Australia,  but  the  latter  pre- 
sents one  feature  of  barbarism  unknown  to  the  seventeenth  century,  to  wit, 
Norfolk  Island,  the  disgrace  of  the  age. 


358  COLONIZATION. 

the  colony.  The  prisoners  made  on  that  occasion,  and  who 
escape  the  hangman,  are  distributed  among  the  queen  and 
courtiers,  by  whom  they  are  sold  at  ten  or  fifteen  pounds 
each  :  to  be  resold  in  Virginia  for  forty  or  fifty  pounds. 
Among  them  are  numerous  persons  of  family  and  education. 
To  this  date,  the  importation  of  negro  slaves  has  been  ex- 
ceedingly limited,  white  slaves  being  found  cheaper  and 
better.  The  tobacco  ships  have  brought  them  as  return  cargo, 
whereas  the  negro  would  require  a  voyage  to  the  coast  of 
Africa,  to  which  no  cargo  could  be  carried :  and,  therefore, 
so  long  as  the  exportation  from  England  can  be  main- 
tained, the  other  branch  of  the  slave  trade  can  attain  but 
little  development.  With  the  close  of  the  reign  of  James  II. 
that  traffic  falls  off,  even  if  it  be  not  entirely  discontinued ; 
and  thereafter  the  supply  comes  chiefly  from  the  African 
coast.  Such  is  the  history  of  the  origin  of  American  slavery. 


IN  1663,  Lords  Clarendon,  Albemarle,  and  other  noble- 
men, obtained  a  grant  of  the  country  now  included  in  the 
twoCarolinas,  with  absolute  authority,  and  with  the  expecta- 
tion of  obtaining  large  rents  from  the  rich  land  included 
within  their  domain.  With  the  usual  rapacity  of  their  class 
we  find  them  obtaining,  two  years  later,  further  grants  of  the 
land  now  included  in  all  the  States  south  and  west,  and  ex- 
tending far  into  Mexico.  The  new  and  great  State  now  to 
be  formed  required  a  constitution  that  should  accord  in  mag- 
nificence with  its  extent,  and  to  Locke  and  Shaftesbury  are 
we  indebted  for  that  which  was  then  prepared,  the  only  one 
formed  for  any  portion  of  the  British  dominions  in  America, 
by  the  aristocracy  exclusively,  and  therefore  the  only  one  in 
which  is  avowed  the  intention  of  keeping  the  people  in  a 
state  of  slavery.  To  the  extent  of  two-fifths  the  land  was 
to  be  inalienable,  the  property  of  barons,  caciques,  pala- 
tines, &c.,with  tenants,  adscripts  of  the  soil,  subject  to  the 


COLONIZATION.  359 

jurisdiction  of  lords  from  whose  decision  there  was  no 
appeal.  The  leet  men  were  to  be  leet  men  through  all  gene- 
rations. A  grand  council  of  fifty,  of  whom  fourteen  only, 
holding  their  seats  for  life,  represented  the  commons,  was 
mixed  up  in  the  scheme  with  courts  of  heraldry  ;  of  cere- 
monies and  pedigrees ;  and  of  fashions  and  sports :  and 
this  absurd  scheme  it  was  fully  believed  would  endure  for 
ever.  Land  was  to  be  all,  and  man  nothing. 

The  first  settlement  was  formed  on  rich  soils  whose  fatal 
atmosphere  had  destroyed  the  native  inhabitants ;  and  the 
whites  naturally  followed  them.  The  second,  Charleston, 
was  placed  near  the  junction  of  two  rivers,  where  the  vege- 
tation was  luxuriant.  The  settlers,  in  keeping  with  the 
magnificence  of  the  proprietors,  were  generally  men  of  noble 
family  impoverished  in  the  civil  wars :  men  who  could  not 
work,  and  who  needed  others  to  do  the  labour.  The  climate 
was  pestilential  and  white  labourers  would  not  come,  even 
for  full  wages.  Labourers  were,  therefore,  to  be  purchased ; 
and  in  a  short  time  the  slaves  were  twice  as  numerous  as  the 
whites.  In  no  part  of  the  Union  have  the  settlers  been  to 
the  same  extent  men  of  high  birth  and  wealthy  family  con- 
nections as  in  this  state ;  and  in  none  has  there  existed,  at 
all  times,  so  strong  a  tendency  towards  cultivating  rich  soils 
in  advance  of  their  natural  order :  and  in  none,  consequent- 
ly, has  there  been  so  great  a  disparity  of  condition  between 
the  planter  and  the  labourer;  the  condition  of  the  negro 
being  worse  than  in  any  other  portion  of  the  Union :  the 
highest  aristocracy  being  here,  as  everywhere,  surrounded  by 
the  poorest  democracy.  The  natural  consequence  is,  that 
population  diminishes  and  land  is  almost  valueless.  Aris- 
tocracy and  disunion,  poverty  and  concentration  of  land, 
are  ever  found  in  close  companionship  with  each  other. 

The  cause  of  the  existence  of  slavery  in  the  United  States 
is  now,  we  think,  obvious.  Impoverished  branches  or  de- 
pendents of  the  English  aristocracy  sought  wealth  without 
labour.  Unwilling  to  work  themselves,  and  unable  to  offer 


360  COLONIZATION. 

inducements  to  the  free  labourer,  who  could  have  land  else- 
where for  himself,  they  first  enslaved  their  poorer  country- 
men ;  and  when  that  source  of  supply  was  stopped,  they  took 
the  negro.  Had  no  aristocracy  existed  in  England,  no 
negro  slavery  could  have  arisen  in  America.  The  reader 
who  may  chance  to  be  familiar  with  the  books  of  the  recent 
settlers  in  Australia,  can  hardly  fail  to  see  in  the  sketch  of 
Virginian  history  now  furnished  very  many  points  of  resem- 
blance :  all  of  which  are  due  to  the  fact  that  in  both  the  settlers 
were  unused  to  labour,  and  therefore  unfit  for  the  business 
of  settlement.  Everywhere  in  those  books  there  is  a  com- 
plaint of  the  high  price  of  labour.  The  land  is  good  enough, 
but  labour  is  too  dear  to  work  it,  and  it  will  not  pay.  If 
the  labour  market  could  but  be  over-stocked,  so  that  the 
land-owners  could  make  their  own  terms,  the  latter  would  be 
rich.  They  wanted  slaves,  although  not  fully  aware  of  the 
fact.  The  man  who  cannot  work  and  who  undertakes  the 
work  of  settlement,  must  have  slaves,  or  he  must  starve  :  and 
the  reason  is,  that  all  rent  is  consideration  paid  for  the  use 
of  those  advantages  which  result  from  labour  expended  on 
land,  and  not  for  land  itself.  *Until  labour  has  been  so 
applied,  entitling  its  owner  to  a  share,  it  has  no  value  ;  and 
he  who  will  work  it  must  have  the  product,  be  it  what  it  may, 
much  or  little  :  but  it  is  always  little,  and  with  less  he  could 
not  live.  He  must  commence  with  the  poorer  lands  that  he 
can  cultivate,  while  waiting  the  clearing  of  the  woods  and 
draining  of  the  marshes  which  cover  the  rich  soils.  His  wages, 
therefore,  absorb  the  whole.  Virginia  and  South  Carolina 
were  settled  by  those  who  consumed  without  producing,  and 
hence  the  existence  of  the  curse  of  negro  slavery,  which  made 
no  way  at  the  north,  because  the  food,  and  clothing,  and 
lodging,  of  the  slave  were  more  than  his  labour  was  worth. 
He  would  there  have  been,  as  now  he  would  be,  an  incum- 
brance  on  the  earth. 

*  "  After  an  enormous  expenditure  of  capital,  the  returns  were  far  less  than 
might  have  been  derived  from  a  similar  amount  in  England,  and  property  was 
steadily  depreciating  in  value." — Henderson's  New  South  Wales. 


COLONIZATION.  361 

THE  number  of  blacks,  slave  and  free,  existing  in  the 
United  States  at  the  first  census,  was  757,000,  of  whom 
60,000  we.re  free,  leaving  697,000  slaves.  How  many  had 
been  imported,  it  is  impossible  now  to  say  ;  but  we  doubt  if 
the  total  amount  of  importation  had  exceeded  250,000.  It  was 
probably  short  of  that  number.  The  slave  trade  continued 
to  be  permitted  by  law  until  1808,  a  period  of  eighteen 
years,  during  which  time  the  number  imported  could  not 
have  exceeded  100,000,  as  the  whole  increase  from  1790  to 
1810  was  only  620,000  ;  and  according  to  the  rate  of  natu- 
ral increase  since  that  time,  it  would  have  been  520,000. 
We  think,  therefore,  that  we  are  safe  in  saying  that  the  whole 
negro  race  in  the  Union,  amounting  now  to  about  3,250,000, 
are  descended  from  350,000  barbarians,  whose  condition  as 
slaves  was  far  better  than  it  had  been  when  nominally  free, 
and  liable  at  every  hour  to  be  robbed  or  murdered,  or 
both. 

At  the  period  of  the  first  census,  the  country  had,  in  a 
considerable  degree,  recovered  from  the  effects  of  the  war 
of  independence.  Since  that  time,  it  has  advanced  steadily 
in  population  and  wealth,  but  with  vastly  more  rapid  pace  in 
the  northern  than  in  the  southern  portions ;  because  in  the 
one  every  man  labours  for  himself,  and  every  one  accumu- 
lates something  as  a  contribution  to  the  general  stock  of 
wealth.  The  difference  in  the  relative  advance  causes  the 
southern  portion  to  appear  almost  stationary ;  but  such  is  far 
from  having  been  the  case.  Population  and  wealth  have  both 
advanced  greatly,  and  there  has  been  a  vast  increase  in  the 
productive  power,  accompanied  with  a  corresponding  in- 
crease in  the  proportion  of  the  labourer ;  who  is  now  far  better 
fed,  clothed,  lodged,  and  taught,  than  at  any  former  period. 
With  this  increase  of  wealth  the  planter  has  acquired  the 
ability  to  seek  more  fertile  soils,  an<3  we  observe  him,  accom- 
panied by  the  black  race  whose  services  he  employs,  regularly 
descending  the  slope  from  the  mountains  of  Virginia  and  Ken- 
tucky towards  the  better  lands  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Gulf 
2Z  31 


362  COLONIZATION. 

of  Mexico ;  and  with  every  step  in  their  progress,  the  value 
of  labour  rises.  The  labourer  himself  acquires  more  value  in 
the  eyes  of  his  master,  who  feeds  and  clothes  him  better : 
gives  him  better  shelter ;  better  medical  attendance  ;  more 
privileges  in  regard  to  land  for  his  own  use  and  that  of  his 
family  ;  and  thus  enables  him  more  and  more  to  exercise  the 
right  of  self-government.  With  every  step  in  this  progress 
he  acquires  more  value  in  his  own  estimation,  without  which 
he  could  make  no  progress  in  the  work  of  preparing  him- 
self for  the  ultimate  perfect  exercise  of  that  right.  To  enable 
the  reader  to  trace  this  operation,  we  give  the  table  on  the 
opposite  page,  in  which  the  several  States  occupying  the 
same  latitudes  are  placed  together. 

The  process  that  is  thus  exhibited  as  now  going  on  before 
our  eyes,  is  frequently  stigmatized  as  an  internal  slave  trade, 
and  legislative  action  is  not  unfrequently  invoked  for  its  pre- 
vention ;  when  it  is  the  precise  course  that  has,  in  every 
quarter  of  the  world,  led  man  to  freedom.  As  the  people 
of  Italy  became  more  rich,  they  sought  the  rich  soils  at  the 
foot  of  their  hills,  and  became  more  free.  War  drove  them 
back  to  the  hills,  and  they  became  slaves.  As  the  people 
of  England  now  become  more  rich,  they  seek  the  fertile  soils, 
and  become  more  and  more  free  with  every  stage  of  the  pro- 
cess. So  is  it  with  the  people  of  Prussia.  So  was  it  with 
the  people  of  Egypt,  of  Argos,  and  of  Attica,  and  so  has  it 
been  with  every  nation  of  the  world.  To  shut  up  the  negro 
race  in  Virginia  and  Kentucky  would  be  their  ruin.  The 
Almighty  never  intended  them  to  mix  with  the  white  race, 
nor  is  it  desirable  that  they  should  do  so ;  for  as  a  separate 
and  independent  race  of  free  men,  they  will  be  happier,  bet- 
ter, and  more  useful,  than  in  any  other  condition.  They  are 
now  gradually  concentrating  on  the  soils  best  suited  to  them, 
and  with  results  similar*to  those  everywhere  else  observed. 
Farms  and  houses,  towns  and  cities,  roads  and  railroads  : 
steamboats  and  electric  telegraphs,  cotton  factories,  furnaces, 
and  other  evidences  of  increasing  power  of  accumulation, 


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COLONIZATION. 


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364  COLONIZATION. 

resulting  from  increased  productiveness  of  labour,  are  seen 
to  rise  with  a  rapidity  totally  unknown  in  the  older  slave 
States,  where  the  poor  soils  are  still  cultivated :  where  roads 
improve  but  slowly,  and  railroads  are  scarcely  known.  In 
the  new  States,  the  tendency  to  concentration — to  placing 
the  consumer  side  by  side  with  the  producer — exists  in  a 
strong  degree,  whereas,  in  the  older  ones  it  has  scarcely  an 
existence.  The  latter  are  yet  in  the  transition  state.  The 
slave  race  is  going  out,  and  the  free  race  is  coming  in :  and 
until  the  change  shall  be  effected,  they  cannot  move  with 
much  rapidity.  The  time  is  now  not  far  distant  when  "the 
whole  race  will  be  concentrated  in  the  southern  tier  of  States. 
Including  South  Carolina,  more  {han  one-half  were  there  in 
1840.  At  the  next  census,  the  proportion  will  probably  be 
three-fifths,  if  not  more ;  and  at  the  end  of  another  decen- 
nial period,  it  will  probably  exceed  four-fifths  :  and  as  popu- 
lation and  wealth  shall  increase,  as  better  soils  shall  be  cul- 
tivated, and  as  the  consumer  shall,  more  and  more,  take  his 
place  by  the  side  of  the  producer,  their  labour  will  become 
steadily  more  productive.  With  the  increase  of  production 
they  will  obtain  the  control,  for  their  own  use,  of  a  largei 
proportion  of  the  proceeds  of  their  labour  :  and  that  propor- 
tion will  steadily  increase  until  there  will  be  seen  to  arise  a 
class  of  free  black  men,  cultivating  for  their  own  use  their 
own  land,  bought  from  their  old  masters,  who  will  find  in 
the  price  of  the  land  a  compensation  for  the  price  of  the 
labourer.  Ultimately,  and  at  no  distant  period,  those  States 
will  be  owned  and  inhabited  by  a  race  of  free  citizens,  dif- 
fering in  colour  but  similar  in  rights,  and  equal  in  capacity 
to  their  fellow- citizens  of  the  north. 

To  those  who  doubt  this,  and  there  will  be  many,  we  have 
to  say  that  the  laws  of  nature  are  the  same  in  the  New  World 
as  in  the  old  :  in  the  present  age  and  all  past  ages :  for  the 
black  man  and  the  white :  and  that  if  this  result  do  not  arrive, 
it  will  be  in  opposition  to  all  past  experience.  Man  always 
has  become  more  free  as  he  has  passed  from  the  cultivation 


COLONIZATION.  365 

of  poor  soils  to  rich  ones,  and  he  always  will.  He  cannot  do 
this  unless  population  and  wealth  increase.  The  interest 
of  the  planter  favours  the  increase  of  population,  and  popula- 
tion cannot  increase  where  morals  do  not  improve.  His 
interest  favours  increase  of  wealth,  because  improved  ma- 
chinery enables  him  to  grow  more  cotton  or  corn  :  improved 
gins  enable  him  to  prepare  his  cotton  better  and  with  less 
labour:  while  steamboats  and  railroads  facilitate  his  connec- 
tion with  the  great  markets.  With  another  step,  he  will 
make  his  market  at  home,  converting  his  cotton  into  cloth 
by  aid  of  the  food  grown  on  his  own  rich  lands,  now  uncul- 
tivated :  and  with  every  diminution  in  the  quantity  of  the 
machinery  of  exchange,  wealth  will  .still  more  rapidly  in- 
crease. The  planter  desires  the  growth  of  wealth  and  popula- 
tion ;  and  they  bear  on  their  wings  division  of  land,  and  free- 
dom, and  happiness, and  prosperity,to  man.  The  interests  of 
all  are  in  perfect  harmony  with  each  other,  and  the  day  is 
not  far  distant  when  all  will  admit  the  fact.  At  present,  the 
majority  of  planters  deny  to  the  minority  the- right  of  judging 
for  themselves  in  the  matter  of  educating  slaves,  of  emanci- 
pating them,  &c. ;  but  we  need  desire  no  better  evidence  of 
the  tendency  to  education  and  emancipation  than  the  fact  of 
the  existence  of  such  laws.  Without  it,  they  would  not  be 
needed.  Even  as  it  is,  the  education  law  is  almost  a  nul- 
lity, and,  ere  long,  the  minority  will  become  the  majority : 
and  when  that  shall  be  the  case,  the  whole  class  of  planters 
will  be  restored  to  the  exercise  of  rights  in  regard  to  their 
property  of  which  they  are  thus  deprived,  because,  as  it  is 
said,  the  public  good  requires  it.  Leagues  for  the  public 
good  always  abound  where  aristocracies  exist ;  but  selfish- 
ness is  their  characteristic,  wherever  found.  The  war-cry 
varies,  but  the  object  is  still  the  same.  Sometimes  they 
fight  for  the  liberties  of  Europe,  while,  at  others,  it  is  for  the 
plunder  of  Italy,  of  India,  or  of  Holland.  Such  combinations 
always  exist  where  land  is  concentrated,  and  man  divided  ; 
and  they  most  exist  where  land  is  most  concentrated,  and 

31* 


366  COLONIZATION. 

man  cultivates  the  poorest  soils,  as  may,  at  this  moment,  be 
seen  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  The  history  of  France 
shows  us  several  such  leagues,  the  members  of  which,  in 
every  case,  had  in  view  the  private  good  alone  :  and  all  were 
willing  to  be  bought  at  their  own  prices.  We  do  not  allege 
this  of  the  people  of  the  south.  We  have  no  doubt  that 
many,  very  many,  seriously  believe  that  in  maintaining  such 
laws  they  are  doing  what  is  best  for  all,  black  and  white  : 
but  they  might  reflect  that  their  fellow-planter,  who  educates 
his  slave,  has  the  same  right  to  judge  for  himself  as  they : 
and  so  he  will,  and  does,  and  ought :  law  or  no  law.  Wealth 
will  grow,  and  freedom  will  come,  let  the  laws  be  as  they  may : 
provided  they  remain  at  peace  and  diminish  the  cost  of  their 
machinery  of  exchange.  Let  them  do  this,  and  black  senators 
will  ultimately  sit  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States :  and 
the  Union  will  then  be  sounder,  and  stronger,  and  richer,  and 
more  rapidly  advancing  in  wealth  and  population,  than  at  any 
previous  period. 

It  is  supposed*  by  many  that  it  is  necessary  to  pass  laws 
to  prevent  the  extension  of  slavery  over  new  territories  :  but 
we  are  disposed  to  believe  that  a  very  brief  examination  of 
the  facts  of  the  case  will  show  that  such  a  measure  is  an 
unnecessary  interference  with  the  rights  of  those  who  are 
equal  with  themselves.  Great  natural  laws  tend  now  daily 
to  produce  the  results  desired,  and  evasion  of  those  laws  is 
impossible  ;  whereas  no  law  could  be  made  that  would 
exist,  or  that  should  exist,  did  the  interests  of  those  subject 
to  it  require  its  repeal. 

If  we  examine  attentively  the  movements  of  the  population 
of  the  Southern  States,  we  shall  see  existing  on  the  part  of 
the  planter,  a  universal  tendency  downwards  towards  the 
richer  lands  :  while,  on  the  part  of  the  free  labourer,  or  the 
man  whose  means  are  limited  to  the  ownership  of  one  or 
two  negroes,  there  is  a  tendency,  equally  universal,  towards 
the  higher  lands :  and  thus  we  see  the  free  population,  the  far- 
mers, of  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  Georgia  and  Tennessee, 


COLONIZATION.  367 

clustering  together  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  mountains, 
while  the  country  intermediate  between  them  and  the  ocean 
is  in  a  great  degree  occupied  by  planters  :  and  hence  it  is 
that  we  see  an  unceasing  contest  between  the  eastern  and 
western  portions  of  Virginia  for  political  supremacy.  The  free 
man  always  seeks  the  heads  of  the  streams  :  the  dry  and  poor 
lands:  for  the  commencement  of  his  labours,  because  his  means 
are  small,  and  he  is  satisfied  if  he  obtain  wages  for  his  time  and 
labour :  and  his  profits  are  to  be  found  in  the  value  that  he 
gives  his  land.*  The  planter  is  a  capitalist,  who  wants  pro- 
fits of  capital,  or  rent ;  and  as  land  cannot  be  made  to  yield 
more  in  return  to  the  labour  of  the  people  who  work  for  him 
than  it  would  do  to  that  of  the  man  who  worked  for  himself, 
it  follows  that  if  the  product  is  to  be  divided  into  two  parts  ; 
one  for  the  labourer,  and  the  other  for  the  labourer's  owner ; 
the  latter  must  be  a  deduction  from  the  former,  and  the  la- 
bourer must  receive  less  than  the  ordinary  rate  of  wages.  In 


*  Western  North  Carolina. 

Slaves. 

Total  Pop. 

Ashe      - 

479       - 

7,467 

Cherokee     - 

199- 

3,427 

T  J                                     1 

.                              303       .... 

\  975 

Henderson  - 

.      466  - 

5,129 

Lincoln 

2,711        - 

25,660 

Burke 

-   3,159- 

15,799 

Western  Virginia. 

Slaves. 

Total  Pop 

Brooke     - 

54    - 

7,948 

Marshall 

-      46 

6,937 

Ohio 

231     .... 

13,367 

Lewis 

-         -        -122         -        - 

3,151 

Nicholas  - 

74     - 

2,223 

Greenbrier  - 

-  1,314         - 

8,695 

Eastern  Tennessee. 

Slaves. 

Total  Pop 

Marion 

380      - 

6,070 

Monro* 

-     312          ... 

12,056 

Jefferson  • 

672      .... 

1?076 

Greene         * 

-     509          ... 

16,076 

Blount     - 

383      - 

11,745 

Ganger 

...     105          ... 

10,552 

368  COLONIZATION. 

order  that  the  product  may  be  sufficiently  large  to  bear  this 
division,  the  planter  is  forced  to  seek  those  soils  and  those 
climates  in  which  the  powers  of  his  labourers  can  be  em- 
ployed to  the  greatest  advantage  ;  and  as  the  negro  originated 
in  the  torrid  region  of  Africa,  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  it 
is  in  a  climate  corresponding  thereto  that  his  powers  will  be 
most  fully  developed  :  whereas  those  of  the  white  require  a 
higher  and  colder  one,  and  he  is  thus  seen  to  become  less 
active  as  he  passes  south.  Each  is  excellent  in  his  place. 
The  negro  will  do  more  work  than  the  white  man  in  Flori- 
da, but  the  Yankee  will  do  more  than  two  negroes  in  Mas- 
sachusetts. The  negro  can  produce  more  rice  than  the 
white  in  the  low  lands  of  Carolina ;  but  the  white,  who  lives 
in  the  mountainous  region  of  that  state,  will  produce  more 
corn  or  wheat  than  his  slave.  The  slave  in  Maryland  and 
Virginia  is  competing  with  the  free  labourer  of  Ohio,  in  the 
production  of  wheat  and  tobacco ;  and  the  latter  is  beating 
the  former  out  of  market,  and  thereby  producing  a  necessity 
for  his  emigration  towards  the  climate  for  which  nature  in- 
tended him :  and  there  he  will  go,  and  there  he  will  stay, 
let  man  make  what  laws  he  may. 

By  law,  slavery  exists  in  Missouri,  but  what  is  its  pro- 
gress ?  In  1830,  the  slaves  were  twenty-five  thousand,  and 
the  free  people  one  hundred  and  eighteen  thousand.  In  1840, 
the  former  were  fifty-eight,  and  the  latter  three  hundred  and 
twenty-four  thousand.  The  natural  increase  would  give 
thirty-two  thousand.  It  follows  that  twenty-six  thousand 
have  been  taken  there :  and  if  we  examine  where  they  have 
gone,  we  find  it  is  to  the  counties  nearest  the  Mississippi, 
where  they  have  been  temporarily  arrested  on  their  way  to 
the  south.  If  we  look  to  Arkansas,  we  obtain  the  following 
results.  The  population  in  1830  was  :  slave,  five  thousand, 
iree  twenty-six  thousand.  In  1840,  slave  twenty  thousand, 
free  seventy-seven  thousand.  Its  numbers  increase  slowly, 
because  wealth  grows  slowly,  and  the  free  labourer  is  not  at- 
tracted there  :  while  the  planter  finds  no  attraction  sufficient  to 


COLONIZATION.  369 

induce  him  to  ascend  the  Red  River,  when  he  has  before  him 
the  lower  lands  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi,  where  wealth 
is  growing  rapidly  and  attracting  forcibly.  So  strongly  is 
this  felt  in  Arkansas,  that  lands  forfeited  for  non-payment  of 
taxes  are  at  this  moment  offered  gratuitously  to  settlers,  for 
freemen  will  not  go  where  slavery  exists,  and  planters  can- 
not  ascend  rivers  to  cultivate  poor  lands.  That  state  must, 
therefore,  soon  cease  to  tolerate  slavery  within  its  limits. 
The  planter  always^/fo'es  from  mountains  and  hills,  and  heads  of 
streams,  while  the  free  labourer  there  commences  his  operations 
and  works  downwards.  The  mass  of  the  planter  is  great. 
He  represents  fifty,  one  hundred,  or  five  hundred  persons, 
who  are  property :  and  wealth  is  always  strongly  attracted 
by  wealth.  The  railroad  now  building  across  the  whole  of 
the  southern  tier  of  states,  constitutes  an  attractive  power  that 
is  irresistible,  and  it  is  there  that  the  black  race  tends  :  there 
that  it  will  stay.  Arkansas  and  Missouri  will  soon  become 
free  states,  by  virtue  of  a  great  general  law :  the  law  of  self- 
government.  Texas,  too,  will  be  a  free  state.  Of  the  slaves 
who  have  been  taken  there,  many  have,  we  understand,  al- 
ready returned :  the  wild  lands  of  that  state,  destitute  of  roads, 
having  proved  less  attractive  than  the  towns  and  cities,  and 
steamboats  and  railroads,  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama.-  The 
heavily  moving  planter  does  not  go  to  the  rich  lands,  but  the 
light  and  active  Yankee,  and  the  hard  working  German,  are 
going  to  the  poorer  ones  of  the  elevated  region  in  which  a 
cool  climate  and  pure  air  enable  them  to  work,  and  gradu- 
ally to  prepare  the  means  for  subduing  the  fertile  land  at 
their  feet.  In  a  short  time,  the  proportion  of  free  to  slave 
population  will  be,  as  now  in  Missouri,  so  large  that  the 
planter  will  deem  it  unsafe  to  venture  there,  even  were  it  his 
interest ;  and  that  it  will  not  be  until  railroads,  and  towns, 
and  cities  shall  become  sufficiently  numerous  to  exert  a  power 
of  attraction  greater  than  Alabama  and  Mississippi :  and 
that  time  is  very  distant.  The  start  those  states  have  taken 
is  so  great  that  they  will  probably  have  attracted  within  their 
3  A 


370  COLONIZATION. 

limits  the  chief  part  of  the  negro  population  before  Texas 
will  exercise  any  attractive  influence  whatsoever. 

If  the  views  thus  submitted  be  true,  and  they  are  in  strict 
accordance  with  the  facts  which  the  last  ten,  twenty  and 
thirty  years  have  presented  for  examination,  there  can  be  no 
necessity  for  the  passage  of  laws  having  for  their  object  inter- 
ference with  the  planter's  rights  of  property.  He  will  not  go 
to  the  high  lands  of  California,  for  he  will  not  go  to  those  of 
Arkansas  or  Texas.  He  will  not  go  to  the  low  lands  of  Texas, 
where  no  population  exists :  and  still  less  will  he,  should 
Mexico  ever  unite  her  fortunes  with  those  of  the  United 
States,  seek  the  low  lands  of  that  country,  where  labourers 
may  be  hired  for  a  less  quantity  of  the  necessaries  and  com- 
forts of  life  than  he  is  accustomed  to  give  to  the  slave  whom  he 
has  purchased.  Were  Mexico  this  day  within  the  Union  no 
planter  would  cross  the  Rio  Grande,  but  tens  of  thousands 
of  Yankees  would  be  found  there,  giving  life  and  activity  to 
agriculture,  and  to  commerce  :  stimulating  the  labourer,  by 
increased  rewards,  to  increased  production;  opening  new 
markets  for  the  manufactures,  whether  of  iron  or  of  cotton, 
of  the  north,  and  for  the  cotton  and  sugar  of  the  south :  for 
fertile  as  are  the  lower  lands  of  Mexico,  a  long  time  has  yet 
to  elapse  before  they  can  be  rendered  extensively  productive. 
The  climate  is  bad,  because  vegetation  is  too  luxuriant :  and 
the  wrork  of  drainage  and  clearing,  essential  to  improvement 
of  climate,  is  a  very  slow  one. 

Carefully  considered,  we  believe  it  will  be  seen  that  be- 
tween the  two  great  divisions  of  the  Union  there  is  a  perfect 
harmony  of  interests,  and  that  all  that  is  needed  for  the  settle- 
ment of  the  great  slavery  question,  is  the  observance  of  the 
most  perfect  respect  for  the  rights  of  property :  every  man  of 
the  free  states  doing  to  his  neighbour  of  the  south  as,  were 
their  positions  changed,  he  would  that  his  neighbour  should 
do  unto  him.  In  so  doing,  he  will  do  that  which  will  most 
promote  the  growth  of  harmony  and  peace,  union,  wealth 
and  population,  and  without  them  there  can  be  no  im- 


COLONIZATION.  371 

provement  in  the  physical,  moral,  intellectual  or  political 
condition  of  the  objects  of  his  solicitude.  "  Love  one  an- 
other," is  the  great  law  of  Christianity,  and  there  is  no  rea- 
son why  the  planter  and  the  farmer  should  do  otherwise. 
The  former  asks  only  of  the  latter  respect  for  his  rights  in 
property  acquired  in  accordance  with  law,  and  he  has  a  right 
to  ask  for  them  perfect  respect,  but  while  doing  so  he  should 
recollect  that  the  whole  system  of  southern  legislation  is 
marked  by  interference  by  one  portion  of  the  planting  inte- 
rest with  the  rights  of  another  portion,  their  neighbours. 
The  man  who  desires  to  educate,  or  to  emancipate,  his  slave 
is  as  much  entitled  to  the  exercise  of  his  judgment  in  regard 
to  the  management  of  his  property  as  is  his  neighbour  who 
is  resolved  to  do  neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  He  should 
also  recollect  that  the  system  of  separating  husbands  and 
wives,  parents  and  children,  is  not  in  accordance  with  the 
great  moral  law  which  teaches  that  men  should  do  by  others  as 
they  would  that  others  should  do  by  them,  and  that  persistence 
in  the  practice  offends  the  moral  sense  of  those  who  are  most 
desirous  to  see  enforced  most  fully  the  system  of  non-inter- 
ference. The  more  perfectly  he  respects  the  rights  of  his 
neighbours,  and  those  of  the  people  whom  he  claims  to  hold 
as  property,  the  more  fully  will  he  be  able  to  maintain  and 
to  defend  his  own.  Such  has  been  the  case  throughout  the 
world,  and  the  more  he  shall  study  its  history  the  better  will  he 
be  satisfied  that  obedience  to  the  precepts  of  Christianity  is  not 
more  the  duty  than  it  is  the  policy  both  of  men  and  of  nations. 


WE  may  now  examine  the  course  of  events  in  the  British 
West  Indies,  the  scene  of  a  recent  great  interference  with 
the  rights  of  property.  We  have  seen  the  effects  of  absentee 
ownership  in  Virginia,  but  in  the  West  Indies  it  was  far 
worse,  because  much  longer  continued  :  and  because  to  the 
exhaustion  thus  produced  was  added  that  resulting  from 
frequent  wars,  occasional  invasions,  and  unceasing  restric- 


372  COLONIZATION. 

tions  on  the  one  hand,  and  monopolies  on  the  other.  The 
absentees  wanted  large  rents  from  land  on  which  little  capi- 
tal had  been  invested.  The  land  would  not  support  the 
negro,  the  agent,  and  the  owner,  but  the  wants  of  the  two 
latter  were  imperative,  and  the  negro  had  to  suffer  to  the 
extent  required.  To  do  this,  he  must  begin  by  working 
the  rich  land  :  the  land  of  fevers  and  pestilence.  He  must 
begin  by  sugar  land,  instead  of  corn  or  potato  land.  The 
forfeit  was  his  life,  which  was  given  to  make  up  the  rent 
required.  Population  could  not  grow,  under  such  circum- 
stances, and  it  did  not  grow.  By  the  census  of  1824,  there 
were  seven  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  of  the  negro 
race  in  those  colonies.  In  1834,  they  were  reduced  to 
seven  hundred  thousand,  showing  a  reduction  of  ten  per 
cent. 

We  have  seen  that  in  all  other  countries  the  fertile  lands 
were  abandoned  as  population  decreased,  and  such  must 
have  been  the  case  here.  The  value  of  slaves  fell,  neces- 
sarily, from  the  same  cause :  and  thus  to  the  tyranny 
that  prevented  all  increase,  and  caused  the  number  emanci- 
pated to  be  far  less  than  the  number  that  had  been  im- 
ported, was  due  the  power  of  the  government  to  effect  eman- 
cipation. Had  they  received  the  same  treatment  as  the 
slaves  of  the  United  States,  there  would  have  been  no  Ma- 
roon wars  to  wraste  the  population  which  would  have  been 
eight  times  as  great  and  sixteen  times  as  valuable:  and  then 
forced  emancipation  would  have  been  as  impossible  as  impo- 
litic, and  as  impolitic  as  unjust.  The  majority  of  the  people 
of  England  compelled  a  small  minority  to  do  that  which  if 
right  to  be  done  at  all  should  have  been  done  by  all :  but  the 
measure  that  was  to  cost  perhaps  ,£100,000,000,  was  held  to  be 
fully  paid  for  with  £20,000,000.  The  difference  has  been  since 
made  up  in  the  cost  of  sugar,  which  doubled  in  price,  and 
the  labourer  of  England  was  thus  deprived  of  a  necessary  of 
life.  In  this  way,  the  landlords  of  the  colonies  and  the 
labourers  at  home  have  paid  the  cost  of  a  violent  interfer- 


COLONIZATION.  373 

ence  with  rights  acquired  under  sanction  of  the  law,  and 
guarantied  by  the  law.* 

The  labourer  is  now  free,  and  the  landlord  receives 
no  rent.  The  former  prefers  raising  yams  to  sugar.  He 
can  raise  them  on  the  high  lands  to  which  free  labour 
always  directs  itself,  and  he  can  put  the  whole  in  his  own 
pocket,  as  wages.  The  absentee  planter's  agent  cannot  pay 
the  same  wages,  if  he  would  live  and  enable  his  principal 
to  live.  The  consequence  is,  an  universal  cry  for  labourers, 
who  would  be  abundant  enough  at  sufficient  wages.  Cheaper 
labour  is  deemed  necessary,  and  a  new  slave  trade  is  organ- 
ized. Hill-coolies  are  imported  from  India,  and  distributed 
to  do  hard  work  at  low  wages,  and  to  be  treated  little  better, 
if  the  accounts  we  have  seen  be  true,  than  the  slaves  of  old : 
although  still  living  better  than  under  the  Company's  govern- 
ment. The  whole  framework  of  society  in  some  of  the  colo- 
nies seems  to  be  broken  up.  In  others,  owing  to  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances, it  is  said  to  have  worked  better,  but  what  is  the 
actual  state  of  things  in  any  of  them  it  is  exceedingly  diffi- 
cult to  say,  for  all  who  attempt  to  describe  the  workings  of 
the  measure  are  either  its  determined  advocates  or  its  deadly 
enemies :  and  the  one  can  see  in  it  no  wrong,  the  other  no 
right.  One  thing  has  been  proved  by  it,  and  that  is,  that  rents 
cannot  come  from  land  upon  which  labour  and  capital  have 
not  been,  and  are  not  continued  to  be,  expended.  The  mere 
land  can  pay  nothing  but  wages,  and  the  labourer  must 
become  the  owner,  unless  the  owner  live  on  it  and  improve 
it  and  thus  entitle  himself  to  receive  interest  in  the  form  of 
rent.  Were  he  even  to  attempt  this,  it  is  doubtful  if  he  would 
succeed  ;  for  in  all  other  countries  the  poor  lands  have  been 
first  cultivated,  and  the  rich  lands  last :  and  it  would  appear 
that  the  natural  order  of  things  is  about  to  be  restored. 

*  Weakness  and  tyranny  always  go  hand  in  hand.  The  planter  of  the 
West  Indies  destroyed  his  slave,  and  had  no  power  to  protect  himself.  The 
planter  of  the  United  States  causes  his  slaves  to  increase,  and  therefore  it 
is  that  he  has  now  the  power  to  protect  himself  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  rights 
of  property. 

32 


374  COLONIZATION. 

The  British  islands  furnished,  of  sugar,  in  1836 3,600,000  cwts. 

1839 2,800,000 

1840-41,  average,  2,180,000 

1842-3-4, 2,500,000 

1845 2,800,000 

1846 2,100,000 

The  deficiency  in  sugar  is  not  made  up  in  coffee,  the  aver- 
age amount  of  which,  from  the  British  possessions,  was,  in 
1835-6,  above  twenty-five  millions,  whereas  the  average  for 
1844-5  and  6,  but  little  exceeded  twenty-one  millions. 

The  deficiency  in  the  supply  of  sugar  and  coffee  culti- 
vated for  export,  has  been  attributed  to  an  increasing  dispo- 
sition to  raise  food  for  consumption  at  home,  but  the  Barba- 
dian of  July  last,  says,  "There  is  no  food  in  the  country, 
starvation  is  staring  us  in  the  face.  What  a  change  has 
come  over  Barbadoes  !  The  little  island  which  used  to  feed 
more  than  a  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  people,  and  yet 
export  corn,  yams  and  potatoes  to  the  sister  colonies,  is 
without  supply,  and  the  labouring  inhabitants  now  crowd 
into  Bridgetown  to  buy  American  meal,  rice,  &c.,  to  keep 
themselves  from  starving ;  and  so  great  is  the  advance  on 
those  necessaries  of  life,  that  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  goes 
very  little  way  indeed.  We  may  judge  of  the  dreadful 
scarcity  of  corn  and  potatoes,  by  the  fact  that  the  town  is 
most  abundantly  supplied  with  poultry  and  butchers'  meat, 
which  the  cultivators  of  small  tenements  are  selling  off  as 
fast  as  they  can,  at  a  very  low  price,  because  they  have  not 
the  means  of  feeding  their  stock." 

We  have  watched  this  experiment  with  great  interest,  but 
have  found  it  exceedingly  difficult  to  understand  the  working 
of  it ;  so  far  as  we  have  been  enabled  to  form  a  judgment, 
it  appears  to  be  a  total  failure.  Had  it  succeeded,  it  would 
have  been  wonderful.  By  the  above  statement,  it  appears 
that  Barbadoes  had  once  a  population  of  a  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand.  In  1834,  it  was  a  hundred  and  three 
thousand.  We  should  be  glad  to  know  what  it  is  now.  If 
population  grow,  all  will  come  right.  But  if  it  diminish  as  it 


COLONIZATION.  375 

lias  heretofore  done,  the  land  must  relapse  into  barbarism,  and 
such  we  have  some  apprehensions  will  be  the  case. 


THE  Spanish  colonists  commenced  with  the  lower  soils — 
those  which  in  the  natural  order  of  things  are  the  last. 
They  wanted  gold  and  silver,  which  would  not  pay  wages, 
and  therefore  the  people  were  enslaved.  The  results  were 
more  disastrous  than  the  working  of  the  sugar  lands  of  the 
West  Indies,  for  nearly  the  whole  population  was  destroyed. 
No  land  can  be  made  to  yield  more  than  wages,  except 
where  labour  has  been  expended  upon  it,  or  for  its  advan- 
tage :  and  then  its  selling  price  is  always  less  than  the  cost. 
The  crown  of  Spain  expended  no  capital  but  it  took  a  large 
rent,  paid  by  the  sacrifice  of  millions  of  lives. 

In  one  case,  however,  a  different  system  was  pursued,  and 
the  results  contrast  so  strongly  with  those  afforded  by  an 
examination  of  the  British  islands,  that  we  cannot  omit  to 
notice  it.  The  island  of  Porto  Rico  had  been  for  three  cen- 
turies neglected.  It  was  too  rich.  In  1802  it  had  a  population 
of  163,000,  scattered  over  the  island,  on  those  parts  that  would 
afford  food  for  consumption  :  and  received  an  annual  remittance 
from  Mexico  for  the  support  of  the  government.  About  thirty 
years  since,'  Spain  invited  settlers :  offering  land,  free  of 
expense  even  for  the  title  papers,  and  perfect  security  as 
regards  the  control  of  the  property  they  might  bring  writh 
them  :  with  freedom  to  leave  when  they  pleased,  and  light 
taxes  to  pay,  if  they  stayed.  The  result  was  that  population 
and  wealth  increased  with  great  rapidity.  The  former  con- 
sisted, in  1830,  of  162,000  whites,  127,000  free  blacks, 
and  34,000  slaves,  making  a  total  of  323,000,  or  almost 
double  what  it  had  been  before.  Immense  forests  had  dis- 
appeared before  the  axe.  Marshes  had  been  drained.  Roads 
had  been  made,  and  villages  and  towns  had  grown  up,  and 
cities  had  increased.  The  number  of  proprietors  was  then 


376  COLONIZATION. 

20,000,  holding  1,500,000  acres,  giving  an  average  of  75 
acres  to  each.  The  character  of  the  land  selected  may  be 
seen  from  the  fact  that  of  85,000  acres  under  cultivation, 
there  were  but  11,000  under  sugar  cane,  and  11,000  under 
rice,  while  the  remaining  63,000  were  employed  in  growing 
food  for  home  consumption,  except  9000  in  coffee  trees, 
which  grow  on  the  higher  lands.  The  remaining  1,400,000 
acres  owned  by  individuals,  were  nearly  equally  divided 
between  meadow  and  woodlands,  waiting  until  the  means 
of  the  colonists  should  enable  them  to  clear  and  drain 
them  :  and  affording,  in  the  mean  time,  food  for  200,000 
horned  cattle,  80,000  horses,  and  above  170,000  sheep, 
goats  and  swine.  Here  we  have  a  beautiful  illustration  of 
the  advantage  of  self-government.  Had  not  the  crown 
offered  perfect  freedom  of  entry  and  departure,  and  equal 
freedom  as  to  the  selection  and  mode  of  occupation  of  the 
lands,  such  results  could  never  have  been  obtained. 


WITH  the  growth  of  population  and  of  wealth  man  ac- 
quires increased  power  to  determine  for  himself  what  soils 
he  will  cultivate  ;  and  he  takes  the  near  or  the  distant,  the 
superficial  or  the  profound,  as  he  deems  the  one  or  the  other 
best  fitted  to  enable  him  to  improve  his  condition.  With 
each  step  in  the  progress  of  the  power  of  man  over  land, 
wealth  tends  to  increase  with  greater  rapidity,  and  with  eacb 
such  step  he  is  enabled  to  bring  into  activity  better  soils 
with  less  labour.  With  each  he  becomes  more  and  more  a 
being  of  power,  and  less  a  victim  of  necessity. 

The  PAST  says  to  the  freeman  of  the  PRESENT  :  "If  you 
desire  that  all  men  should  be  as  free  as  yourself,  respect  the 
rights  of  your  neighbour,  and  unite  with  him  in  exertion  for 
the  promotion  of  the  growth  of  wealth  :  for  freedom  always 
follows  wealth." 

To  the  planter,  it  says :     "  Labour  for  the  maintenance 


COLONIZATION.  377 

of  peace,  and  for  the  promotion  of  the  growth  of  wealth. 
Your  property  will  increase  in  value,  and  your  lands  will 
become  divided.  Your  slaves  will  become  the  free  culti- 
vators of  those  lands,  and  your  rents  will  then  be  far  greater 
than  they  are  now." 

To  all  it  says  :     «  Avoid  war,  and  preparation  for  war !" 


3B 


378  IRELAND. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

IRELAND. 

IN  what  we  have  thus  far  written,  we  have  purposely 
omitted  all  reference  to  Ireland, — desiring  to  treat  it  by  it- 
self, and  to  show,  as  we  think  conclusively,  that  there  is  no 
exception  to  the  law  that  we  have  submitted  for  the  conside- 
ration of  our  readers. 

At  the  invasion,  Ireland  was  advancing  in  civilization.  It 
was  divided  into  five  little  kingdoms,  among  whom  existed 
those  difficulties  which  in  all  cases  have  been  seen  to  exist 
where  men  were  poor  and  scattered,  because  of  the  neces- 
sity for  depending  on  the  least  productive  soils  for  a  supply 
of  food ;  but,  had  they  been  left  to  themselves,  population 
and  wealth  would  have  grown,  the  better  soils  would  have 
been  brought  into  cultivation,  and  Ireland  would  now  occupy 
the  position  in  the  world  to  which  her  advantages  so  emi- 
nently entitle  her :  among  the  foremost  in  civilization.  To 
her  insular  position,  England  has  been  indebted  for  her  free- 
dom from  invasion,  and  for  the  growth  of  wealth  and  the 
habit  of  peace.  Ireland  enjoyed  the  same  advantage  as  re- 
garded the  Continent,  but  she  was  unhappy  in  being  the 
near  neighbour  of  the  Norman  aristocracy,  a  body  whose 
most  distinguishing  feature  has  at  all  times  been  unbounded 
rapacity.  Ireland  was  partially  subjugated  ;  and  thencefor- 
ward the  power  and  wealth  of  England  became  an  element 
of  perpetual  disturbance.  The  land  was  filled  by  English 
agents,  who  were  anxious  for  confiscations :  and  confisca- 
tions were  to  be  produced  by  rebellions.  Rebellions  were, 
therefore,  to  be  produced,  and  the  mode  of  production  was 


IRELAND.  379 

oppression.  Such  is  the  history  of  Ireland,  the  prey  of  Eng- 
land. 

The  natural  result  of  this  state  of  things,  during  the  first 
five  centuries,  was  the  entire  insecurity  of  person  and  pro- 
perty. Population  and  wealth  did  not  advance,  if  they  did 
not  even  retrograde.  The  people  still  cultivated  the  poor 
soils,  and  remained  in  a  state  of  barbarism.  The  oppressions 
of  the  Stuarts  gave  rise  to  disturbances,  which  resulted  in  the 
expulsion,  under  James  I.,  of  the  whole  people  of  Ulster,  who 
had  their  choice  of  <  Hell,  or  Connaught-;'  and  that  province, 
to  the  extent  of  nearly  three  millions  of  acres,  became  the 
property  of  the  city  of  London,  and  other  absentee  landlords. 
Ireland  afterwards  supported  the  Stuarts,  and  was  repaid  for 
her  services  by  the  confiscation  of  nearly  eight  millions  of  acres. 
Ireland,  nevertheless,  supported  James  II.,  and  was  punished 
by  his  daughter  and  her  husband,  by  the  confiscation  of  an- 
other million.  Thus  the  seventeenth  century  witnessed  the 
transfer  to  the  aristocracy  of  England  and  their  friends,  of 
nearly  the  whole  land  of  Ireland  that  was  fit  for  cultivation  : 
the  whole  quantity  being  twenty  millions,  of  which  one-third 
is  still  waste. 

A  conduit  was  thus  provided  for  all  the  produce  of  this 
unfortunate  island,  over  and  above  what  was  absolutely  ne- 
cessary to  keep  the  miserable  people  from  starvation.  Some 
portion  of  the  new  owners  planted  themselves  in  Ireland : 
little  sovereigns  among  their  hapless  dependants :  and,  as  is 
always  the  case  under  such  circumstances,  there  was  a  per- 
petual contest  among  the  great  men  for  the  division  of  the 
spoil ;  and  faction  was  carried  to  an  extent  to  be  exceeded 
only  in  the  history  of  France.  The  poverty  of  the  people 
rendered  them  turbulent,  and  armies  and  taxes  were  ren- 
dered more  necessary.  The  people  paid  the  taxes,  and 
their  masters  filled  the  offices,  and  squandered  on  luxuries 
in  Dublin,  what  was  collected  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet 
from  people  who  ate  potatoes  in  mud  cabins,  and  went 
clothed  in  rags.  Every  thing  tended  towards  centralizing  the 


380  IRELAND. 

wealth  of  the  kingdom  in  the  capital,  on  its  way  outward  ;  the 
necessary  consequence  of  which  was  that  the  people  still  cul- 
tivated the  poor  soils,  and  concentration  was  impossible. 

More  effectually  to  prevent  it,  however,  every  practicable 
measure  was  resorted  to,  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the 
consumer  taking  his  place  by  the  side  of  the  producer.  Irish 
manufactures  were  prohibited  in  England ;  while  Ireland  was 
exposed,  almost  unguarded,  to  the  influence  of  a  system 
which,  by  forcing  the  capital  of  England  from  employment 
on  the  land,  rendered  it  superabundant  and  unnaturally 
cheap,  and  compelled  it  to  seek  manufactures  and  com- 
merce.* Ireland  was  then  prohibited  from  all  direct  inter- 
course with  foreign  countries,  or  even  the  British  colonies ; 
and  was  thus  deprived  of  the  power  of  exchanging  the  pro- 
ductions of  its  fields  for  sugar  or  coffee,  except  through 
English  ports.  We  see  thus,  that  while  the  mass  of  the 
products  of  the  country  was  withdrawn  never  again  to  re- 
turn, that  portion  which  was  to  be  exchanged  was  burdened 
with  the  cost  of  a  vast  amount  of  useless  and  wasteful  ma- 
chinery, tending  still  further  to  arrest  the  progress  of  wealth 
and  the  power  of  concentration. 

That  no  measure  of  repression  might  be  omitted,  the  peo- 
ple who  chanced  to  entertain  on  the  subject  of  transubstantia- 
tion  ideas  differing  from  those  of  the  governing  few,  were 
deprived  of  almost  all  the  rights  of  person  and  property. 
They  could  rise  neither  in  the  bar  nor  in  the  church :  neither 
in  the  local  corporation  nor  in  the  state. f  England  had  pro- 

*  King  William,  in  one  of  his  speeches  to  Parliament,  declared  that  he 
would  "  do  every  thing  in  his  power  to  discourage  the  woollen  manufacture 
of  Ireland." 

f  The  chief  disabilities  imposed  upon  the  Catholics  during  the  reign  of 
William  and  Anne,  were  the  following.  They  could  not  hold  leases  for  more 
than  thirty-one  years ;  could  neither  purchase  lands,  teach  publicly  in  schools, 
have  a  horse  of  more  than  £5  value,  vote  for  members  of  Parliament,  nor 
become  barristers,  or  clerks,  or  attorneys,  without  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance 
and  supremacy ;  hold  any  office  under  the  crown,  or  become  magistrates  in 
any  town,  without  taking  the  sacrament,  as  prescribed  by  the  English  test 
act,  according  to  the  usage  of  the  Church  of  England ;  nor  take  property 


IRELAND.  381 

vided  outlets  for  the  property  that  might  otherwise  be  accu- 
mulated in  Ireland;  and  by  this  measure  she  provided  sim;- 
lar  outlets  for  all  the  men  of  mind,  who  desired  to  rise,  and 
felt  that  they  could  rise,  if  permitted.  Such  men  sought 
employment  in  France  or  Spain,  or  on  the  continent  of 
America.  The  natural  consequence  of  this  was,  that  the 
control  of  public  affairs  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  most 
rapacious  and  contemptible  band  of  jobbers,  noble  and 
plebeian,  that  has  been  exhibited  in  the  annals  of  the 
world. 

With  the  Union  came  perfect  freedom  of  intercourse,  and 
with  it  came  diminished  power  of  concentration.  The 
wealth  of  Ireland  tended  now  more  than  ever  to  England. 
Dublin  lost  all  its  attractions.  Power,  and  place,  and  pen- 
sion, were  to  be  sought  in  London  ;  and  there  went  the  land- 
lords of  Ireland.  The  feeble  barriers  that  had  been  opposed 
to  the  perpetual  error  of  English  policy  now  disappeared, 
and  the  manufacturers  of  Ireland  were  ruined.  The  copy- 
right law  was  extended  to  Ireland,  and  her  printing-offices 
were  closed.  From  that  day  to  the  present,  the  unfortunate 
country  has  been  deprived  of  all  power  of  concentration  :  of 
all  power  to  place  the  consumer  by  the  side  of  the  producer. 
She  is  compelled  to  convert  her  food  into  pork,  that  it  may 
bear  transportation  to  the  place  where  it  is  to  be  exchanged 
for  cloth :  when,  otherwise,  she  would  bring  the  fashioner 
of  the  wool  to  the  place  where  corn  and  wool  were  both  pro- 
duced, and  would  thus  obtain  twice  the  cloth  for  the  same 
quantity.  Could  she  do  this,  the  gain,  would  be  quadruple. 
She  would  save  the  use  of  a  vast  amount  of  bad,  and  would 
acquire  the  use  of  much  of  the  best,  machinery  of  exchange. 
The  profit  derived  from  this  would  enable  her  to  bring  into 


from  a  Protestant  by  descent,  bequest,  or  devise.  Upon  death,  their  inherit- 
ances were  equally  divided  among  their  children ;  and  all  regular  clergy,  friars, 
Jesuits,  and  Catholic  bishops,  were  enjoined  to  quit  the  kingdom.  Catholics 
were  in  still  more  general  terms  deprived  of  the  elective  franchise,  by  an  act 
passed  in  1727. 


382  IRELAND. 

activity  her  best  soils ;  and  the  return  to  labour  would  be 
doubled :  while  the  value  of  the  product,  in  cloth,  would 
also  be  doubled. 

Ireland,  thus  deprived  of  all  intercourse  with  the  colonies 
and  with  the  world,  might  be  supposed  to  be  exempt  from 
the  cost  of  supporting  the  fleets  and  armies  necessary  for  re- 
taining those  colonies,  and  fighting  the  battles  of  the  world : 
but  such  is  not  the  case.  Of  what  escapes  the  landlords, 
the  landlord  government  of  England  takes  four  millions,  for 
the  maintenance  of  armies  and  fleets  for  keeping  Ireland 
quiet ;  and  for  the  pay  of  English  viceroys,  English  chan- 
cellors, English  secretaries,  and  English  agents  of  all  kinds : 
whose  savings  are  deposited  in  English  funds,  or  invested  in 
the  stock  of  English  railways.  Of  what  is  accumulated 
in  Ireland  by  people  who  are  there  resident,  the  mass  goes 
to  England,  because  all  employment  for  capital  in  Ireland  is 
interdicted.  From  1821  to  1833,  the  amount  of  Irish  accu- 
mulations transmitted  across  the  Channel  for  investment  in 
the  British  funds,  exceeded  ten  millions  of  pounds :  and  if 
we  could  ascertain  the  investments  in  corporation  stocks,  it 
is  possible  they  might  amount  to  almost  as  much  more. 
Even  the  savings  of  the  little  capitalist  who  deposits  his 
shilling  in  the  savings  fund,  cannot  escape  absorption.  By 
law,  those  institutions  are  compelled  to  make  their  invest- 
ments in  the  English  funds ;  and  thirteen  years  since,  the 
amount  so  invested  was  a  million  and  a  half  of  pounds. 
Centralization  is  perfect ;  and  hence  the  poverty  and  wretch- 
edness of  the  whole  people. 

Having  thus  shown  the  numerous  conduits  provided  for 
the  transfer  of  the  wealth  of  Ireland  to  England,  we  may 
now  look  to  some  of  the  machinery  of  exchange.  That 
wealth  tends  to  promote  the  extension  of  the  manufactures 
of  England,  the  demand  for  agricultural  products,  and  the 
demand  for  labour  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year  in  agricul- 
ture. The  labourer  of  Ireland,  deprived  of  the  power  of 
exchanging  his  products  at  home  with  those  who  will  give 


IRELAND.  383 

him  cloth,  finds  that  he  must  confine  himself  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  that  commodity  of  which  the  land  will  afford  him  the 
greatest  quantity,  and  that  will  least  bear  the  expense  of 
transportation :  the  potato.  He  has,  consequently,  labour 
to  sell ;  and  as  he  has  rent  to  pay,  he  must  sell  it,  or  be  ex- 
pelled from  his  little  holding.  He  travels  to  Cork  or  Dub- 
lin and  makes  his  way  to  England,  there  to  employ,  in 
obtaining  a  pound  or  two,  the  labour  which  might,  if  em- 
ployed at  home,  have  given  to  him  and  his  employer  twice 
as  many  pounds  as  he  had  received  shillings.  Such  is  the 
machinery  of  exchange  provided  for  Ireland.  Under  such 
a  system,  concentration  cannot  take  place,  and  without  that 
civilization  is  impossible. 

Such  are  the  causes  why  the  whole  population  of  that 
beautiful  island  is  dependent  upon  the  single  chance  of  a 
good  crop  of  potatoes  :  why  they  starve  if  it  fail :  and  why 
they  must  continue  to  starve  so  long  as  they  continue  to 
constitute  a  portion  of  the  British  empire,  subject  to  laws 
whose  sole  end  is  to  draw  from  the  land  all  that  it  can  be 
made  to  give  forth,  and  to  return  nothing  back  to  the  great 
giver.* 

A  system  better  calculated  to  perpetuate  barbarism 
never  was  devised  ;  yet  English  writers  gravely  ask  if  the 
existence  of  the  present  state  of  things  is  not  due  to  some 
defect  of  the  Irish  character !  Had  England  been  made  the, 
prey  of  her  continental  neighbour,  in  like  manner,  such 
would  be  now  the  question  of  the  people  of  France.  In 
point  of  physical  qualities,  the  people  of  Ireland  are  supe- 
rior to  most  of  those  of  the  continent,  and  eminently  so  to 
those  of  France :  the  reason  for  which  may  be  found  in 
the  perpetual  exhaustion  of  the  people  of  the  latter  by  the 

*  Mr.  Cashlan  waited  on  Sir  William  Sommerville,  the  Irish  Secretary,  with 
the  tidings  that  in  his  parish  there  are  sixteen  hundred  who  have  neither  food 
nor  work.  In  these  quarters,  it  would  seem,  nothing  will  teach  the  land- 
lords; for  he  says,  Lord  Dillon,  with  a  rental  of  £22,000  per  annum,  spent 
in  England,  has  fifteen  thousand  acres  uncultivated  there — and  not  a  shilling 
spent  for  eighteen  months  on  drainage  or  reclamation. — Irish  paper,  1847 


384  IRELAND. 

drains  for  purposes  of  war.  Governments  are  always  par- 
ticular to  take  the  able-bodied,  and  those  exempt  from  dis- 
ease. The  demands  of  that  portion  of  the  community  of 
France  that  administered  the  government :  that  is,  which 
collected  taxes,  and  made  wars  for  their  own  gratification 
or  emolument :  have  at  times  required  all  that  were  capable 
of  bearing  arms ;  and  even  now  require,  in  parts  of  the 
kingdom,  almost  every  man  that  is  suited  for  their  purpose. 
Of  the  whole  mass  of  conscripts,  nearly  forty  per  cent,  are 
rejected  for  being  under  the  standard,  which  is  four  feet  ten 
inches,  French,  or  less  than  five  feet  two  inches,  English  mea- 
sure. In  the  Departement  du  Nord,  out  of  five  thousand  four 
hundred  and  thirty-three  conscripts,  that  proportion  is  first 
dropped  for  that  reason.  Then  follow  those  who  have  con- 
stitutional defects,  and  finally  about  twenty-eight  per  cent, 
are  rejected  for  disease  and  deformity ;  and  thus  the  number 
left  is  barely  sufficient  to  supply  the  annual  demand.  Such 
has  been  the  case  for  centuries,  and  the  effect  is  here  the 
same  that  would  be  found  on  the  farm  of  a  man  who  sold  all 
his  best  calves  to  the  butcher,  and  kept  the  inferior  ones  for 
the  purpose  of  propagation.  The  best  men  perish  in  the 
field,  and  the  blind,  the  halt,  the  lame,  the  stunted,  and  the 
miserable,  are  left  at  home  to  labour,  and  to  recruit  the 
population.  Poverty  prevents  marriage,  and  libertinism  is 
Common.  Marriages  are  few,  by  comparison  with  those  of 
Ireland.  The  subjects  are  bad,  and  marriages  are  conse- 
quently unprolific.  Women  cannot  marry,  because  the  pro- 
portions of  the  sexes  are  disturbed,  and  hence  a  cause  of 
unchastity.  In  Ireland  the  proportions  are  better  main- 
tained, and  nearly  all  marry,  as  it  was  intended  they  should 
do.  Women  are  therefore  chaste,  and  all  have  children : 
but  of  these  many  die  for  want  of  proper  nourishment. 
Population  grows,  and  therewith  wealth  advances :  and  the 
condition  of  the  people  slowly  improves. 

The  growth   of  population   is   slow,  because   the   slow 
growth  of  wealth  perpetually  forces  the  younger  and  more 


IRELAND.  385 

active  portions  of  the  people  to  seek  abroad  that  subsistence 
which  is  denied  to  them  at  home.  The  statements  in  regard 
to  their  numbers  during  the  last  century  deserve  no  atten- 
tion, because  of  their  obvious  incorrectness.  In  1805,  the 
population  was  believed  to  be  5,395,000.  In  1841,  it  was 
8,175,000  :  at  which  rate,  allowing  for  emigration,  it  would 
double  itself  in  about  sixty  years. 

Hundreds  of  thousands  of  Irish  men  and  women  have 
transferred  themselves  to  the  United  States,  and  we  have 
abundant  opportunity  of  knowing  their  character.  Some- 
times turbulent,  the  natural  consequence  of  the  situation  in 
which  they  have  been  placed,  the  men  are,  in  general,  hard- 
working, industrious,  and  economical,  and  make  excellent 
citizens :  while  the  women  are  unquestionably  distinguished 
for  chastity.  All  have  been  educated  in  a  bad  school,  but 
all  show  what  they  might  have  been  made,  had  the  school 
been  better. 

It  is  from  the  frequency  of  agrarian  outrages,  that  the 
English  writers  are  disposed  to  infer  the  incapacity  of  the 
Irish  for  civilization,  yet  it  is  from  their  occurrence  that  we 
should  most  infer  their  capacity  for  it.  The  system  is  bad  :  it 
destroys  the  souls  and  bodies  of  the  men  who  are  subject  to 
it :  and  the  outrages  complained  of  are  but  the  natural  result 
of  its  existence,  while  they  are  evidence  that  man  has  not 
yet  been  so  ground  down  by  slavery  as  to  have  lost  all  con- 
sciousness of  the  existence  of  a  right  to  resist.  The  mise- 
rable Hindoo  when  oppressed  by  his  tyrant  governor  takes 
his  seat  before  his  door,  with  his  wife  and  children,  and 
threatens  to  starve  himself  and  them  to  death  if  his  griev- 
ances be  not  remedied.  For  centuries  the  poor  peasant  of 
France,  tailleable  et  corveeable  a  merci  et  ct  misericorde,  dis- 
appears from  the  page  of  history.  To  raise  the  Hindoo  to 
civilization,  it  would  be  necessary  to  teach  him  that  he  had 
rights,  and  to  do  so  would  require  far  greater  time  than 
would  be  required  for  the  Irishman,  who,  poor  and  oppressed 
3C  33 


386  IRELAND. 

as  he  may  be,  has  yet  preserved  the  knowledge  that  they 
once  existed. 

The  task  of  the  daughters  of  Danaus  was  that  of  rilling  a 
vessel  pierced  with  holes.  Could  they  have  stopped  the  holes, 
it  would  speedily  have  filled.  The  task  of  the  people  of 
Ireland  is  the  same,  and  until  they  apply  that  remedy,  the 
effort  is  hopeless.  The  mode  of  remedy  is  to  be  found  in 
self-government,  and  in  that  alone.  Were  she  alone,  she 
would  need  neither  fleets  nor  armies,  for  she  has  not  an 
enemy  in  the  world.  Everywhere  regarded  as  the  victim 
of  the  policy  of  England,  her  sufferings  have  excited  uni- 
versal commiseration,  an'd  all  would  desire  to  aid,  rather 
than  to  interfere  with  her.  Without  fleets  or  armies,  she 
would  require  scarcely  any  taxes.  She  owes  no  debt,  for 
that  of  England  was  contracted  by  and  for  England  alone. 
She  it  was  that  wanted  colonies,  and  commerce,  and  glory,  in 
which  Ireland  was  not  permitted  to  participate,  and  for 
which  Ireland  ought  not  to  pay.  One  leak  would  thus  be 
closed. 

With  the  diminution  of  the  repulsive  power  of  taxation, 
the  attractive  power  would  increase,  and  absentee  landlords, 
no  longer  claimants  on  the  English  government,  and  no 
longer  driven  to  France  for  escape  from  taxes,  would  find 
a  residence  at  home  most  profitable  :  while  every  man,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest,  would  find  himself  animated  by 
the  desire  to  prove  that  Ireland  was  capable  of  self-govern- 
ment. Peace  and  harmony  would  take  the  place  of  riot  and 
outrage,  and  wealth  would  grow,  in  the  form  of  roads  and 
mills :  the  better  soils  capable  of  yielding  coal  and  iron, 
and  larger  supplies  of  food,  would  come  into  activity,  and 
concentration  would  appear:  a  consequence  of  the  power 
of  the  consumer  to  take  his  place  by  the  side  of  the  pro- 
ducer. The  English  manufacturer  would  find  that  he  could 
work  to  more  advantage  in  Connaught,  where  food  was 
abundant  and  labour  cheap,  than  in  Manchester,  where  the 
former  was  less  abundant  and  the  latter  dearer:  and  by 


IRELAND.  387 

degrees  factories  would  make  their  appearance  in  every  part 
of  Ireland.  With  every  such  improvement  in  the  machinery 
of  exchange,  the  power  of  production  would  increase :  in- 
dustry would  be  stimulated  :  wages  would  rise :  the  million 
of  mud-built  cabins  would  be  replaced  by  neat  cottages : 
the  value  of  land  would  rise :  land  would  be  divided  and 
would  pass  gradually  into  the  ownership  of  those  who  culti- 
vated it :  and  happiness  and  prosperity  would  take  the  place 
of  the  existing  scene  of  misery  and  wretchedness :  and  all 
this  would  be  accomplished  without  interfering  in  the  slight- 
est degree  with  one  right  of  property.  The  man  of  Ireland 
wants  only  to  feel  that  he  has  a  home :  that  it  is  his  own  : 
to  make  it  one  in  which  he  would  desire  to  spend  his  days, 
instead  of  braving  all  the  horrors  of  the  middle  passage  in 
search  of  a  place  of  refuge  in  the  wilds  of  Canada,  to  perish 
on  the  voyage,  or  to  die  of  disease  on  the  shores  of  the  St. 
Lawrence. 

The  character  of  the  present  system  is  so  monstrous  that 
it  can  be  paralleled  in  India  alone.  There,  as  in  Ireland, 
the  landholder  takes  all  and  gives  nothing  back  to  the  land. 
There,  as  in  Ireland,  the  people  perish  of  famine  and  pesti- 
lence :  and  both  must  so  continue  to  perish  while  their 
existing  relations  with  England  continue  to  be  maintained. 
India,  unhappily,  has  no  newspapers.  Ireland  has  but  few, 
yet  we  may  judge  from  the  few  facts  that  are  published,  of 
the  vast  multitude  that  are  not.  The  latest  journals  are 
filled  with  accounts  of  the  eviction  of  tenants,  whose  houses 
and  cabins  are  thrown  down  ;  their  unfortunate  inhabitants 
being  compelled  to  seek  refuge  in  neighbouring  glens,  or 
church-yards,  there  to  die  of  famine  or  pestilence  :*  and  all 

*  Sir  Edward  Waller  has  ejected  eight  families,  consisting  of  about  forty- 
seven  persons.  These  most  wretched  beings  have,  since  the  period  of  their 
eviction,  been  squatting  in  dykes  and  glens,  literally  burrowing  in  the  earth  for 
shelter,  victims  to  every  inclemency  of  the  weather,  death  hourly  staring  them  in 
the  face.  At  Farnee,  Maryglen,  and  Moyrath,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Keeper 
Mountain,  Lord  Bloomfield,  who  is  in  St.  Petersburgh,  through  his  agent,  has 
been  at  the  same  work  of  ejectment.  About  eight  families,  consisting  of 


388  IRELAND. 

this  is  the  consequence  of  the  pertinacious  determination  of 
England  that  Ireland  shall  send  her  wool  to  England,  accom- 
panied by  food  for  the  man  that  is  to  twist  and  weave  it:  the 
whole  then  to  be  carried  back  in  the  form  of  cloth,  which 
the  poor  wretch  who  raised  the  food  cannot  buy,  because  he 
has  not  even  potatoes  for  his  family. 

The  present  course  of  legislation  is  the  most  extraordinary 
that  the  world  has  yet  seen,  and  proves  the  uniform  tendency 
of  injustice  to  produce  injustice.  The  produce  of  Ireland 
is  transferred  to  England,  there  to  be  employed  or  consumed, 
and  the  impoverished  Irishman  seeks  to  follow  it.  To 
compel  those  who  are  not  yet  paupers  to  support  those  who 
are,  the  Parliament  of  England  passes  a  poor  law,  by  virtue 
of  which  nearly  the  whole  land  is  confiscated.  In  one 
county  of  the  west,  the  present  expenditure  under  that  law 
exceeds  four  millions  of  dollars,  while  the  annual  value  of 
all  the  property  subject  to  the  rate  is  but  three  millions  and 
a  half,  and  much  of  this  is  subject  to  the  claims  of  mort- 
gagees: but  the  right  of  owners,  and  mortgagees,  and  all,  are 
extinguished.  Over  an  extent  of  nearly  six  millions  of 
acres,  the  expenditure  is  at  the  rate  of  seventeen  millions  a 
year,  while  the  annual  value  is  but  twelve  millions :  and 
these  seventeen  millions  are  to  be  employed  in  supporting 

about  forty-five  persons,  have  been  also  sent  abroad,  without  a  roof  to  protect 
them  from  the  rigours  of  the  weather.  Their  condition  is  immeasurably  more 
lamentable  than  we  can  describe. 

On  the  13th  of  July,  according  to  the  statement,  and  in  the  village  called 
"  Glen,"  on  the  estate  of  the  Earl  of  Cork,  ejectments  were  executed  by  the 
sub-sheriff  of  Cork,  aided  by  the  military  and  police  force,  on  forty-eight 
tenants.  Their  houses  or  cabins  were  thrown  down,  and  the  forty-eight 
families,  numbering  about  four  hundred  human  beings,  were  turned  out  upon 
the  high  road.  Of  these  it  is  alleged  that  more  than  one  hundred  were  suffer- 
ing from  fever.  They  were  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  a  neighbouring  church- 
yard. The  church-yard  of  Ballysally  contains  many  flat  tombstones  and 
grass-covered  graves ;  and  among  those  graves  the  ejected  families  slept  for 
four  consecutive  nights,  huddled  together.  One  poor  woman  was  taken  off 
her  bed  four  days  after  her  confinement,  and  placed  by  the  side  of  the  ditch 
with  her  infant,  both  in  a  state  of  helpless  exhaustion.  Another  woman  had 
a  family  of  seven,  all  suffering  from  fever.  In  a  third  family  there  were  ten 
persons  in  fever  at  the  time  of  the  ejectment. 


IRELAND.  389 

people  who  are  idle  at  home  because  they  cannot  find  em- 
ployment, with  a  view  to  prevent  them  from  following  to 
England  the  corn  and  the  pork  that  they  are  not  permitted  to 
retain  at  home.  Tfye  State  is  now  making  loans  to  promote 
drainage,  and  it  has  lately  expended  some  millions  in  mak- 
ing roads,  also  called  loans,  not  a  shilling  of  which  can — or 
ought — ever  be  repaid.  It  passes  laws  to  facilitate  the  sale 
of  encumbered  estates,  while  its  system  tends  to  withdraw 
from  the  country,  to  be  invested  in  England,  all  the  means 
of  purchase.  It  has  even  been  proposed  that  the  State 
should,  under  certain  circumstances,  take  possession  of 
lands  and  administer  them  in  some  manner  or  other.  We 
now  forget  the  process  that  was  to  be  pursued,  but  we  know 
that  it  was  most  remarkable  for  its  folly  and  its  injustice. 
Each  step  is  thus  worse  than  the  last,  and  each  but  renders 
the  case  of  Ireland  more  hopeless,  and  the  connection  with 
England  more  intolerable.  Under  such  circumstances  it  is 
not  extraordinary  that  the  people  of  the  former  should  be  be- 
coming daily  more  and  more  unanimous  in  favour  of  a  repeal 
of  the  Union,  and  of  a  recognition  of  the  right  to  govern  her- 
self after  her  own  fashion. 

The  present  forced  connection  is  a  curse  to  both  countries, 
and  the  sooner  it  shall  be  dissolved,  the  better  it  will  be  for 
both.  Free  and  independent,  Ireland  will  be  to  England  the 
best  of  friends,  while  subjugated  Ireland  must  continue  to 
be,  as  she  always  has  been,  the  bitterest  of  enemies.  Allied 
in  feeling,  but  independent  in  government,  they  will  be  ever 
ready  to  combine  for  self-defence,  and  wars  of  offence  will 
pass  out  of  fashion.  Peace  will  promote  the  growth  of 
wealth  in  both,  and  England  will  find  in  Ireland  a  better 
customer  than  she  has  ever  yet  been,  without  the  cost  of 
governing  her.  The  blackest  chapter  in  history  is  that  which 
contains  the  recital  of  Ireland's  connection  with  England, 
and  so  long  as  that  country  shall  continue  in  her  present 
condition  she  will  stand  a  living  monument  of  injustice :  a 
great  pauper,  soliciting  alms  at  home  and  abroad,  and  made 

33* 


390  IRELAND. 

such  by  English  farmers-general.  So  long  as  she  shall  thus 
stand,  the  claims  of  England  to  occupy  a  high  place  in  the 
history  of  civilization  may  well  be  disputed.  She  has 
sown  poverty  and  disunion,  and  she  is  now  reaping  the 
harvest. 

She  has  compelled  the  people  to  cultivate  poor  soils,  while 
surrounded  by  millions  of  acres  that  require  drainage  alone 
to  render  them  as  productive  as  any  lands  in  the  world :  to 
content  themselves  with  turf  while  coal  abounded:  to  buy 
iron  when  both  ore  and  fuel  existed  in  unlimited  quantity  : 
to  buy  cloth  while  wasting  more  labour  than  would  have 
manufactured  all  the  cloth  consumed  in  Britain  :  and  all  this 
she  has  done  for  the  benefit  of  her  own  landlords,  her  own 
manufacturers,  and  her  own  shipping  merchants.  Her  policy 
towards  Ireland  has  been  one  of  unmixed  and  unmitigated 
selfishness,  injustice  and  tyranny :  and  she  has  thus  esta- 
blished in  the  sister  island,  containing  eight  millions  of  inha- 
bitants possessing  the  same  rights  as  their  masters  her  own 
more  favoured  people,  a  realm  over  the  portals  of  which  are 
inscribed 

"  Who  enters  here,  leaves  Hope  behind :' 

yet,  in  defiance  of  all  this,  England  claims  to  occupy  a  high 
place  among  civilized  nations  !* 

The  PAST  says  to  the  Irish  landlord  of  the  PRESENT  :  "If 
you  desire  that  your  land  increase  in  value  and  that  your 
rents  increase  in  amount:  strive  for  the  freedom  of  Ireland." 

To  the  labourer  it  says  :  "  If  you  desire  good  wages, 
plenty  of  food,  and  a  home  of  your  own :  and  for  your 


*  «It  is  a  strange  thing  that  it  should  not  be  admitted  in  England,  that  one 
nation  has  no  right  to  govern  another  nation,  and  that  such  government  can 
know  no  other  law  than  that  of  force,  accompanied  by  robbery  and  tyranny  ; 
that  the  tyranny  of  a  people  is  of  all  tyrannies  the  most  intolerable,  and 
that  which  leaves  the  least  resource  to  the  oppressed,  because  a  despot  is 
arrested  by  a  regard  to  his  own  interest,  he  is  restrained  by  remorse,  or  by 
public  opinion,  but  a  multitude  calculates  nothing — it  has  no  remorse— it 
decrees  to  itself  glory,  when  it  deserves  to  feel  only  shame." — Turgot. 


I 

IRELAND.  391 


children,  land  of  their  own :  strive  for  the  freedom  of  Ire- 
land." 

To  all  it  says  :  "  In  union  there  is  strength.  Be  united 
and  you  shall  be  free.  Become  free,  and  you  will  become 
prosperous  and  happy." 


NOTE. 

As  this  sheet  is  going  to  press,  we  meet  witti  a  statement  of  the  emigra- 
tion of  the  present  year  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  by  which  it  appears  that  out  of 
99,000,  no  less  than  13,000  died  on  ship-board,  or  of  disease  contracted  on 
the  voyage.  Of  the  unhappy  remainder,  a  large  portion  will  probably  perish 
from  having  been  forced  abroad  to  a  new  and  poor  country  in  which  exists  but 
small  demand  for  labour,  while  themselves  totally  unprovided  with  the  means 
of  purchasing  food  for  themselves  and  their  families.  So  monstrous  a  system 
has  never  existed  in  the  annals  of  the  world,  yet  British  ships,  maintained  out 
of  the  taxes  paid  by  starving  Irishmen,  are,  at  this  moment,  employed  io  the 
suppression  of  the  slave  trade  ! 


392  INDIA. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

INDIA. 

THE  man  who  cultivates  the  poor  soils,  surrounded  by 
fertile  lands  covered  with  fine  timber  that  he  cannot  clear, 
is  a  wanderer,  and  most  frequently  a  robber.  The  poor 
tribe  clustered  on  the  side  of  the  great  mountain  cange,  looks 
with  longing  eyes  upon  the  wealth  of  more  active  and 
industrious  men  whose  labours  have  subdued  to  cultivation 
the  richer  soils,  and  have  thus  enabled  millions  to  obtain 
abundant  food  from  a  surface  that  but  recently  gave  to  a  few 
thousands  scarcely  the  means  of  supporting  life.  Envy  and 
jealousy  prompt  to  war  and  plunder,  and  hence  perpetual 
interference  with  the  rights  of  more  industrious  and  richer  men. 

If  we  desire  to  find  the  seats  of  early  civilization,  we  must 
seek  them  in  the  lower  lands  near  the  foot  of  the  Himalaya 
range :  in  India  and  China :  on  the  shores  of  the  Tigris  and 
the  Euphrates :  in  Asia  Minor  and  in  Greece :  and,  some- 
what more  distant,  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  If,  now,  we 
trace  the  history  of  those  countries,  we  find  a  constant  series 
of  invasions  from  the  higher  and  poorer  lands :  one  race  of 
barbarians  succeeding  another  until  at  length  civilization 
disappears  from  all,  and  a  few  scattered  people,  half  savage, 
are  seen  obtaining  from  the  cultivation  of  poor  soils  a  mise- 
rable subsistence,  where  formerly  vast  nations  obtained  from 
the  richer  soils  abundant  rewards  to  labour. 

If  next  we  look  further  westward,  we  see  civilization  rising 
in  Italy  and  Sicily :  in  Carthage  and  in  Spain :  again  to 
disappear  under  the  invasions  of  poor  men,  heretofore  culti- 
vating poor  soils.  Again  it  is  found  further  west,  for  a  time 
to  disappear  under  the  weight  of  invasion  from  the  east, 


INDIA.  393 

again  to  rise,  secured  by  insular  position  from  further  inter- 
ferences from  abroad.  Standing  now  in  England,  and 
looking  upwards  towards  the  Alps,  we  may  see  civilization 
gradually  diminishing  as  our  eyes  ascend  the  slope ;  and 
with  each  step  upwards,  we  see  the  traces  of  earlier  cultiva- 
tion. Extending  our  view  towards  the  great  range  of  Asia, 
we  see,  on  a  large  scale,  the  same  great  fact ;  and  with  each 
step  downward  in  the  scale  of  civilization,  we  find  ourselves 
approaching  nearer  the  site  of  early  cultivation :  nearer  to 
the  places  occupied  by  men  whose  labours  were  unaided 
by  wealth  in  the  form  of  spades  and  axes. 

Turning  our  eyes  now  towards  India,  we  may  see  a  fur- 
ther illustration  of  the  fact  that  distance  from  the  seat  of  early 
occupation  has  been  essential  to  permanent  civilization. 
The  history  of  that  great  country  during  a  long  series  of 
centuries,  is  a  record  of  perpetual  invasions  from  the  poor 
tribes  occupying  the  high  and  dry  lands  on  the  sides  of  the 
great  mountain  range.  At  each  intermission  civilization 
struggles  into  life,  but  each  is  followed  by  a  new  incursion, 
when  population  is  destroyed,  the  rich  lands  are  again  aban- 
doned, and  poverty  and  wretchedness,  feebleness  and  inca- 
pacity for  self-defence,  become  again  the  sole  heritage  of 
man.  If  we  now  look  to  the  character  of  man,  we  may  see 
it  change  nearly  in  the  ratio  that  security  is  increased  by 
distance  from  these  mountain  ranges.  The  Hindoo,  ag- 
grieved by  his  government,  sits  dhurnah.  He  will  starve 
himself,  his  wife  and  children,  and  thus  destroy  his  master's 
slaves.  The  Turkish  ray  ah  is  found  one  step  higher  in  the 
scale,  which  rises  gradually  until  we  reach  that  country  of 
Europe  in  which  security  has  most  existed,  and  in  which 
wealth  and  population  have  most  increased — England.  On 
a  smaller  scale,  we  may  see  the  same  fact  illustrated  as  we 
descend  the  Alps,  the  character  of  man  steadily  improving 
as  we  pass  towards  the  lands  of  the  richer  soils  :  Guienne 
and  Normandy :  the  Netherlands  and  Prussia :  the  Milanese 
and  Tuscany  :  and  always  highest  where  wealth  most  exists, 
3D 


394  INDIA. 

for  there  it  is  that  man  is  most  enabled  to  apply  his  labour  to 
the  fashioning  of  the  great  machine. 

At  one  period  in  its  history,  Hindostan  appears  to  have 
enjoyed  a  high  degree  of  prosperity.  Each  village  consti- 
tuted a  little  republic,  having  its  own  officers  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  public  peace,  and  for  other  purposes.  The 
contributions  to  the  state  are  supposed  to  have  been  one- 
thirteenth  of  the  produce  of  the  land.  The  best  soils  were 
then  to  a  great  extent  cultivated.  Wealth  increased,  educa- 
tion was  generally  disseminated,  and  continued  peace  and 
security  were  alone  required  for  the  attainment  of  the  highest 
civilization.  Unhappily ,  however,  for  them,  they  were  too  near 
neighbours  of  poor  men  who  cultivated  thin  soils,  and  who 
saw  in  labour  with  the  sword  returns  far  larger  than  could  be 
obtained  by  labour  with  the  plough.  Invasion  and  destruc- 
tion of  property  and  life  were  followed  by  civil  wars  and 
depopulation.  The  fertile  soils  were  gradually  abandoned, 
and  labour  yielded  less  returns.  Taxes  became  less  and 
less  productive  ;  and  each  step  downwards  in  production 
was  followed,  necessarily,  by  a  corresponding  one  upwards  in 
the  proportion  of  the  great  landlord  :  the  collector  of  rent  or 
tax  :  until  at  length  the  half  of  the  diminished  product  was 
held  to  be  his  right.  Cultivation  diminished  as  with  the 
growth  of  poverty  the  inducements  to  honest  labour  disap- 
peared, and  each  diminution  in  the  number  of  those  who 
lived  by  their  own  labour  was  attended  by  an  increase  in  the 
number  of  those  who  lived  by  that  of  others.  The  rights  of 
the  little  land-owner  passed  away  and  land  gradually  concen- 
trated itself  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  and  they  did  as  has 
been  done  at  all  times,  and  in  all  ages,  by  men  who  exer- 
cised power  over  their  fellow  men.  They  plundered  those 
below,  and  were  in  turn  plundered  by  those  above  them- 
selves. The  havildar,  the  head  of  a  village,  called  his  habi- 
tation the  durbar,  and  plundered  of  their  meal  and  roots  the 
wretches  within  his  jurisdiction  ;  the  zemindar  fleeced  him 
of  the  small  pittance  which  his  penurious  tyranny  had 


INDIA.  -395 

scraped  together  ;  the  phoosdar,  a  military  commandant  of 
the  province,  seized  on  the  zemindar's  collections,  and  bribed 
the  nabob's  connivance  in  his  villanies  by  a  share  of  the 
spoil ;  the  covetous  eye  of  the  nabob  ranged  over  his  domi- 
nions for  prey,  and  employed  the  plunder  of  his  subjects  in 
bribing  or  resisting  his  superiors.*  Great  men  became  very 
numerous,  and,  as  usual,  the  poverty  of  the  little  men  in- 
creased with  every  addition  to  their  number. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  that  country  forty  years  since. 
During  a  large  portion  of  the  previous  century  it  had  been 
the  theatre  of  wars  whose  object  was  the  determination  of 
the  question  whether  England  or  France  should  have  the 
right  of  taxing  its  unhappy  people  ;  and  during  the  whole 
period  the  former  was  filled  with  nabobs :  men  who  had 
accumulated  fortunes  by  a  display  of  rapacity  rarely  ex- 
ceeded ;  who  plundered  sovereigns,  princes,  and  princesses, 
with  a  full  knowledge  that  what  was  taken  from  them  must 
be  furnished  by  contributions  from  the  poor  starving  wretches 
by  whom  they  were  surrounded. 

Since  then,  the  whole  tendency  has  been  that  of  centralf- 
zation.  Late  in  the  last  century  Lord  Cornwallis  had  endea- 
voured to  set  some  bounds  to  the  Company's  claim  for  taxes, 
but  even  that  effort  was  accompanied  by  acts  of  grievous  in- 
justice. The  whole  class  of  little  village  proprietors  was  first 
delivered  over  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  zemindar,  or  great 
landed  proprietor,  the  result  of  which  is  that  they  have  been 
in  a  great  measure,  if  not  altogether,  extinguished.  Land 
thus  concentrated  itself  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  but  respect 
for  their  rights  had  as  little  existence  as  respect  for  those  of 
the  unfortunate  people  below  them.  Everywhere,  zemindary 
estates  were  abandoned  because  of  inability  to  pay  the  taxes, 
and  in  some  cases  to  the  extent  of  a  fifth  of  the  whole  num- 
ber. Of  the  condition  of  the  unfortunate  ryot,  or  labourer, 
subjected  to  their  control,  some  idea  maybe  formed  from  the 

*  See  Orme  on  the  Government  of  Hindostan. 


396   •  INDIA. 

following  passage  taken  from  the  fifth  report  of  the  select 
committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  by  which  it  is  seen 
that  the  system  of  indirect  taxation  united  all  that  is  inju- 
rious in  the  French  octroi,  and  the  Spanish  alcabala. 

"  In  addition  to  the  assessment  on  the  lands,  or  the  shares 
of  their  produce  received  from  the  inhabitants,  they  were 
subject  to  the  duties  levied  on  the  inland  trade,  which  were 
collected  by  the  renters  under  the  zemindars.  These  duties, 
which  went  by  the  name  of  sayer,  as  they  extended  to  grain, 
cattle,  salt,  and  all  the  other  necessaries  of  life,  passing 
through  the  country,  and  were  collected  by  corrupt,  partial, 
and  extortionate  agents,  produced  the  worst  effects  on  the 
state  of  society,  by  not  only  checking  the  progress  of 
industry,  oppressing  the  manufacturer,  and  causing  him  to 
.debase  his  manufacture,  but  also  by  clogging  the  beneficial 
operations  of  commerce  in  general,  and  abridging  the  com- 
forts of  the  people  at  large.  This  latter  description  of  im- 
posts was  originally  considered  as  a  branch  of  revenue  too 
much  exposed  to  abuses  to  be  intrusted  to  persons  not  liable 
to  restraint  and  punishment.  It  was  therefore  retained  under 
the  immediate  management  of  the  government.  The  first 
rates  were  easy,  and  the  custom-houses  few  ;  but  in  the 
general  relaxation  of  authority,  this  mode  of  raising  revenue 
for  the  support  of  the  government  was  scandalously  abused. 
In  the  course  of  a  little  time,  new  duties  were  introduced, 
under  the  pretence  of  charitable  and  religious  donations,  as 
fees  to  the  chokeydars,  or  account-keepers'  guards,  and 
other  officers  at  the  stations,  as  protection  money  to  a  ze- 
mindar ;  or  as  a  present  to  those  who  farmed  the  duties. 
Not  only  had  the  duties  been  from  time  to  time  raised  in 
their  amount,  and  multiplied  in  their  number,  at  the  discre- 
tion of  the  zemindars  and  the  renters  under  them,  but  they 
were  at  length  levied  at  almost  every  stage,  and  on  every 
successive  transfer  of  property ;  uniformity  in  the  principles 
of  collection  was  completely  wanting ;  a  different  mode  of 
taxation  prevailing  in  every  district  in  respect  to  all  the 


INDIA.  397 

varieties  of  goods,  and  other  articles  subject  to  impost. 
This  consuming  system  of  oppression  had,  in  some  instances, 
been  aggravated  by  the  company's  government,  which,  when 
possessed  of  a  few  factories,  with  a  small  extent  of  territory 
around  them,  adopted  the  measure  of  placing  chokies,  or 
custom  stations,  in  the  vicinity  of  each,  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  the  state  of  trade  within  their  own  limits,  as 
well  as  to  afford  them  a  source  of  revenue.  Under  the 
head  of  sayer  revenue  was  also  included  a  variety  of  taxes, 
indefinite  in  their  amount,  and  vexatious  in  their  nature, 
called  moturpha ;  they  consisted  of  imposts  upon  houses, 
on  the  implements  of  agriculture,  on  looms,  on  merchants, 
on  artificers,  and  other  professions  and  castes." 

The  Company,  however,  could  not  afford  to  part  with  its 
right  to  levy  taxes  to  an  unlimited  extent,  under  the  pre- 
tence of  taking  rent  for  the  use  of  poor  lands  occupied  by 
men  who  cultivated  the  poorest  soils :  and  the  further  pro- 
gress of  the  permanent  settlement  was  therefore  stopped  after 
it  had  been  established  throughout  Bengal,  and  over  a  small 
portion  of  the  Madras  presidency.  Throughout  the  remainder 
of  the  Madras,  and  the  whole  of  the  Bombay  presiden- 
cies, the  ryotwar  system  still  exists,  under  which  the  amount 
levied  on  each  ryot  is  left  to  be  determined  at  the  discretion 
of  the  European  or  native  revenue  officers,  it  being  the 
practice  to  compel  the  ryot  to  occupy  as  much  land,  and 
consequently  pay  as  much  taxes,  as  is  deemed  proportioned 
to  his  circumstances.  He  is  not  allowed,  on  payment  even 
of  the  high  survey  assessment  fixed  on  each  field,  to  culti- 
vate only  those  fields  to  which  he  gives  the  preference  ;  his 
task  is  assigned  to  him,  and  he  is  constrained  to  occupy  all 
such  fields  as  are  allotted  to  him  by  the  revenue  officers ; 
and  whether  he  cultivates  them  or  not,  he  is  saddled  with  the 
rent  of  all.  If  driven  by  these  oppressions  to  fly,  and  seek 
a  subsistence  elsewhere,  he  is  followed  wherever  he  goes 
and  oppressed  at  discretion,  or  deprived  of  the  advantages 
he  might  expect  from  a  change  of  residence. 

34 


398  INDIA. 

With  every  improvement  in  cultivation ;  with  every  im- 
provement in  manufactures;  with  every  increase  in  the 
quantity  of  labour ;  with  every  indication  of  increased  com- 
fort or  wealth  ;  the  taxes  rise,  or  would  rise  :  and  as  a 
necessary  consequence,  the  poor  ryot  feels  little  inducement 
to  exertion.  Little  as  it  might  be,  however,  it  is  lessened 
when  he  comes  to  exchange  his  productions  for  the  necessa- 
ries of  life  that  he  cannot  produce.  At  every  step  in  his 
progress  to  market  he  finds  a  new  tax,  and  when  at  market, 
he  buys  his  saJt  mixed  with  dirt  from  the  Company's  agent, 
at  six  times  the  price  at  which  it  should  be  sold  :  and  thus, 
of  the  little  that  escapes  the  collector  of  rents,  a  large  por- 
tion goes  to  the  collector  of  taxes.*  Under  such  circum- 
stances, it  is  not  extraordinary  that  the  poor  ryots  should  say 
that  "  their  skins  only  are  left  them." 

The  whole  product  of  that  country,  over  and  above  what 
is  necessary  for  the  absolute  preservation  of  life  in  ordinary 
seasons — for  in  extraordinary  ones  the  people  perish  by  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  by  famine  and  pestilence — centralizes 
itself  in  Calcutta,  to  go  thence  forth  in  the  payment  of  vice- 
roys, and  officers  without  number,  charged  with  managing  the 
affairs  of  these  poor  people  :  that  is  to  say,  with  the  collection 
of  taxes,  and  with  their  expenditure  for  the  payment  of  armies 
occupied  in  subduing  the  people  of  Burmah,  or  Scinde,  or 
Afghanistan,  or  those  of  the  Punjaub;  and  with  the  transmis- 
sion of  that  large  portion  which  goes  to  England,  to  be  divided 
among  the  owners  of  East  India  stock :  dividends  to  men  who 
live  in  palaces  and  ride  in  coaches,  out  of  the  proceeds  of  taxes 
on  salt  paid  by  a  poor  wretch  whose  wages  are  two  rupees,  or 
one  dollar,  per  month,  out  of  which  he  finds  himself!  Ab- 
sentee-landlordism exists  in  Ireland,  but  it  luxuriates  in 
India.  Every  thing  is  taken  from  the  land  that  can  be 

*  "  The  government,  in  purchasing  salt,  are  in  the  habit  of  pressing  it  down 
with  hands  and  feet  in  the  wooden  measure ;  but  when  they  sell  it,  of  filling 
it  up  as  light  as  can  be,  which  makes  a  difference  of  twenty  per  cent.; 
and  other  differences  of  measurement  make  an  additional  twenty  per  cent." — 
loiter  of  Commissioner  Graeme  to  the  Board  of  Revenue. 


INDIA. 


399 


scratched  out,  and  nothing  goes  back.  Even  the  zemindar, 
sometimes  enriched  by  the  oppression  of  the  poor  ryot,  never 
applies  a  rupee  to  the  improvement  of  land  subject  to  the 
Company's  claims  for  revenue. 

Thus  far,  however,  we  have  seen  but  a  small  portion  of 
the  holes  in  this  vast  vessel  of  the  Danaides.  Forty  years 
since,  the  people  of  India  supplied  the  world  with  cotton 
manufactured  goods.  Their  machinery  was  rough,  it  is  true, 
but  it  could  readily  have  been  improved  ;  and  it  would  have 
cost  far  less  to  carry  to  Calcutta  a  few  ship-loads  of  ma- 
chinery, for  the  conversion  of  Hindoo  cotton  into  clothing  for 
Hindoo  men  and  women,  by  aid  of  Hindoo  labourers  eat- 
ing Hindoo  rice ;  than  to  carry  tens  of  thousands  of  ship- 
loads of  cotton  and  rice  to  Manchester,  to  be  returned  in  the 
form  of  cloth  to  Calcutta :  thence  to  be  carried  into  the  inte- 
rior, in  a  country  totally  destitute  of  roads  and  bridges. 
Such,  however,  was  not  the  policy  of  England.  She  would 
not  cultivate  her  own  fertile  soils.  She  would  not  permit 
capital  to  seek  employment  in  fashioning  her  own  great  food- 
producing  machine :  and  she  would  eat  the  rice  of  India, 
even  although  she  might  exclude  the  corn  of  Canada.  She 
would  not  permit  the  machinery  of  manufacture  to  go  to  In- 
dia, or  elsewhere ;  and  she  would  insist  on  supplying  India 
with  cotton  goods.  She  did  take  some  food  in  exchange  ; 
but,  to  prevent  improvement  in  that  country,  she  subjected 
cleaned  rice  to  a  heavy  duty,  from  which  paddy,  or  rough 
rice,  was  exempted :  thus  'offering  a  bounty  to  her  people 
for  using  an  unnecessary  quantity  of  bad  machinery  of  ex- 
change :  a  measure  that  could  have  been  exceeded  in  folly 
and  rapacity  only  by  a  similar  bounty  on  the  import  of  cot- 
ton in  the  rough,  with  a  view  to  secure  the  profit  of  gin- 
ning it. 

England  had  grown  rich.  For  more  than  half  a  century 
the  wealth  of  India  had  been  transferred  to  her  coffers  by 
aid  of  Clives,  and  Hastingses,  and  numerous  other  members 
of  the  same  family  :  men  of  the  great  race  :  and  thus  while  the 


400  INDIA. 

one  became  enriched,  the  other  became  poorer  from  day  to 
day.  Towns  and  villages,  by  thousands,  had  been  aban- 
doned during  endless  wars;  and  extensive  districts,  embrac- 
ing the  most  fertile  lands,  had  relapsed  into  jungle  :  and 
tigers  now  occupied  the  ground  that  before  had  given 
food  and  clothing  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of  poor  but  in- 
dustrious people  :  the  consequence  of  which  was,  that  the 
poorest  soils  were  cultivated  with  the  worst  machinery. 

The  stock  of  a  ryot  consisted  of  a  plough  not  capable  of 
cutting  deep  furrows,  and  only  intended  to  scratch  the  sur- 
face of  the  soil,  with  two  or  three  pairs  of  half-starved  oxen. 
This,  a  sickle  used  for  a  scythe,  and  a  small  spade  or  hoe 
for  weeding,  constituted  almost  his  only  implements  for  hus- 
bandry. Fagots  of  loose  sticks,  bound  together,  served  for 
a  harrow.  Carts  could  be  little  used  in  a  country  where 
there  were  no  roads,  or  none  but  bad  ones.  Corn,  when 
reaped,  was  heaped  in  a  careless  pile  in  the  open  air,  to  wait 
his  leisure  for  threshing,  which  was  performed,  not  by  man- 
ual labour,  but  by  the  simple  operation  of  cattle  treading  it 
out  of  the  ear.  He  had  no  barns  for  staiking  or  storing 
grain,  which  was  preserved,  when  required,  in  jars  of  un- 
baked earth,  or  baskets  made  of  twigs  or  grass.  The  cattle 
were  fed  in  the  jungle,  or  common  waste  land  adjoining  his 
farm ;  and  buffaloes,  thus  supported,  generally  supplied  him 
with  milk.  Horses  were  altogether  unused  in  husbandry. 
The  fields  had  no  enclosures.  Production  was  small,  and 
the  great  landlord  took  one-half  of  the  small  amount,  thus 
rendering  improvement  of  machinery  impossible.  He  could 
not  buy  looms  and  spinning-jennies,  even  if  England  would 
have  sold  them,  which  she  would  not.  The  necessary  result 
was,  that  the  poor  manufacturer  was  first  driven  out  of  the 
market  of  the  world,  and  then  out  of  his  own :  and  thus  the 
small  existing  tendency  to  concentration  was  diminished. 
From  being  a  consumer  side  by  side  with  the  producer  of 
cotton,  he  was  driven  to  seek  elsewhere  poor  soils  that  he 
might  scratch  with  his  stick,  in  the  almost  vain  hope  of  ob- 


INDIA.  401 

taining  a  sufficiency  of  food :  and  thus  was  the  amount  of 
raw  cotton  to  be  exported,  increased  for  the  supposed  bene- 
fit of  ships  and  factories  owned  by  British  capitalists,  who 
heeded  little  the  sufferings  of  the  poor  Hindoo  weaver,  de- 
prived of  all  market  for  his  industry.  Having  thus  com- 
pelled the  use  of  the  inferior  machinery  of  exchange  in  the 
form  of  roads,  in  place  of  better  machinery  previously  in 
use,  the  export  of  cotton  now  went  on :  but  at  length  the 
people  of  the  northern  United  States,  driven  to  the  poor 
soils  of  new  states  and  territories  to  raise  food  instead  of 
concentrating  themselves  on  the  rich  soils  of  the  old  ones 
for  the  purpose  of  consuming  it,  forced  the  planter  from  the 
production  of  food  to  that  of  cotton  with  which  he  filled  the 
world :  and  now  the  poor  Hindoo  could  produce  for  Europe 
neither  the  raw  material  nor  the  cloth.  Next,  we  find  him, 
in  default  of  other  employment,  largely  engaged  in  cultivat- 
ing opium  for  his  neighbours,  the  Chinese.  The  trade  grows 
large,  and  Chinamen  use  it  freely  because  cheaply  supplied. 
The  government  takes  alarm  and  destroys  the  opium,  and 
England  takes  offence :  and  now  Chinese  cities  are  ruined, 
their  men  destroyed,  and  their  women  outraged,  and  the 
country  is  laid  waste :  that  English  subjects  may  employ  in 
producing  intoxicating  drugs  the  labour  that  should  be  em- 
ployed in  converting  cotton  into  cloth,  while  the  labourer  ate 
food  produced  by  the  man  who  was  to  wear  the  cloth. 

The  tendency  of  the  whole  system  is  that  of  compelling 
men  to  waste  labour  in  transportation  that  might  profitably 
be  applied  to  production.  Cotton  and  rice  must  go  to  Eng- 
land, that  Englishmen  may  eat  the  one  and  fashion  the 
other.  Such  being  the  law,  it  might  be  supposed  that  some 
labour  might  be  applied  towards  perfecting,  in  some  small 
degree,  that  description  of  the  machinery  of  exchange  the 
use  of  which  was  still  to  be  permitted :  to  wit,  roads  and 
bridges :  but  the  reader  would  greatly  err  who  might  sup- 
pose that  possible.  Of  the  vast  revenues  of  that  country, 
derived  from  the  appropriation  of  one-half  of  the  gross  pro- 
3E  34* 


402  INDIA. 

duce,  scarcely  a  rupee  goes  back  upon  the  land.  We  have 
now  before  us  an  account  of  all  the  works  of  improve- 
ment in  that  country,  with  its  population  of  one  hundred 
millions,  during  a  period  of  seven  years ;  and  it  would  be 
exceeded  by  the  state  of  Rhode  Island,  with  its  one  hun- 
dred thousand  inhabitants.  It  is  stated  that  the  government 
does  now  do  something :  that  it  actually  expends  twelve  or 
fifteen  thousand  pounds  per  annum  in  the  repair  of  roads ! 
and  that,  too,  in  a  country  whose  people  are  forced  by  erro- 
neous legislation  over  which  they  can  have  no  control,  to 
export  its  great  product,  because  they  may  not  be  permitted 
to  obtain  machinery  for  fashioning  it  at  home.  The  produce 
of  the  great  cotton-growing  districts  on  the  Nerbudda  is  car- . 
ried  on  oxen,  each  taking  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds,  at 
the  extreme  rate,  in  fair  weather,  of  seven  miles  a  day.  The 
distance  to  Mirzapore,  on  the  Ganges,  is  five  hundred  miles, 
and  the  cost  is  two  and  a  half  pence,  or  five  cents,  per 
pound.  Thence  it  goes  to  Calcutta,  a  distance  of  eight 
hundred  miles,  by  water,  unaided,  we  believe,  by  steam. 
From  another  portion  of  the  cotton-growing  districts,  in  the 
Deccan,  the  transport  occupies  a  continuous  journey  of  two 
months ;  and  in  the  rainy  season  the  road  is  impassable,  and 
the  traffic  of  the  country  is  at  a  stand.  In  the  absence  of  even 
a  defined  road,  the  carriers,  with  their  pack  cattle,  are  com- 
pelled to  travel  by  daylight  to  prevent  the  loss  of  their  bul- 
locks in  the  jungles  through  which  they  have  to  pass,  and 
this  under  a  burning  sun  of  from  one  hundred  to  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  degrees.  If  the  horde,  sometimes  amounting 
to  a  thousand,  is  overtaken  by  rain,  the  cotton,  saturated 
with  moisture,  becomes  heavy,  and  the  black  clayey  soil, 
through  which  lies  the  whole  line  of  road,  sinks  under  the 
feet  of  a  man  above  the  ankle,  and  under  that  of  a  laden  ox 
to  the  knees :  and  in  this  predicament  the  cargo  lies  some- 
times for  weeks  on  the  ground,  and  the  merchant  is  ruined ! 
"  Black  clayey  soils,"  rich  and  fertile,  are  here  superabund- 
ant ;  but  the  poor  wretch  who  raises  the  cotton  must  culti- 


INDIA.  403 

vate  the  high  lands  that  require  neither  clearing  nor  drain- 
age, and  his  masters  take  half  the  product  of  their  poor  soils, 
while  refusing  even  to  make  a  road  through  the  rich  ones :  yet 
forcing  him  to  send  his  cotton  to  market  to  be  exchanged 
for  cotton  cloth  manufactured  thousands  of  miles  distant.  A 
system  better  calculated  to  compel  men  to  continue  culti- 
vating the  poorest  soils,  by  aid  of  sticks,  could  not  be 
devised. 

We  have  here  another  of  the  leaks  in  this  great  vessel,  but 
it  is  by  no  means  the  last.  Of  the  revenues  of  this  vast 
empire  no  small  share  is  distributed  among  the  infinite  number 
of  great  men  charged  with  the  duties  of  government,  who 
pay  themselves  liberally  :  for  a  very  few  years  of  "  exile"  are 
deemed  to  entitle  each  to  acquire  fortune  for  himself  and  his 
children.  Salaries  are  large,  and  savings  are  considerable :  and 
these  savings  are  lent  to  the  government  to  enable  it  to  pay 
the  salaries :  for  large  as  are  the  revenues,  the  debt  grows 
regularly  and  rapidly.  The  lender,  having  accumulated  a 
fortune  and  having  safely  invested  it  at  large  interest,  now 
returns  home,  and  thenceforth  he  is  entitled  to  an  annual  re- 
mittance of  the  interest :  and  to  pay  him  and  others  like  him, 
and  to  make  dividends  on  East  India  stock,  almost  twenty 
millions  of  dollars  are  annually  required :  a  sum  sufficient  to 
make  yearly  a  railroad  of  six  hundred  miles :  and  this  is  to  be 
paid  by  men  who  think  that  they  might  perhaps  continue  to 
grow  cotton,  if  in  addition  to  bullocks  they  only  had  carts  ! 

Within  the  last  sixty  years  there  has  been  levied  on  the 
poor  Hindoos  by  and  for  the  uses  of  that  government,  to  aid 
it  in  making  dividends,  paying  salaries,  and  carrying  on  wars 
in  which,  like  that  of  Afghanistan,  the  poor  tax-payers  had 
no  interest,  more  than  five  thousand  millions  of  dollars !  In 
return  for  all  this,  the  poor  people  have  received  at  the  hands 
of  their  masters  neither  roads,  nor  canals,  nor  public  works 
of  any  description,  except  barracks,  prisons,  and  hospitals 
for  their  own  troops.  Deprived  of  all  power  to  improve  their 
wretched  machinery  of  production,  they  are  compelled  to 


404  INDIA. 

abandon  rich  lands,  and  cultivate  the  poorest :  those  from 
which  the  man  who  is  destitute  of  a  spade  and  an  axe  always 
draws  his  supplies  of  food.  Such  lands  can  afford  no  more 
than  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  support  of  existence,  yet 
of  the  miserable  product  the  company  takes  one-half  and 
calls  it  rent,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  balance  and  calls  it 
taxes.  The  necessary  consequence  is,  that  any  thing  like 
accumulation  is  impossible.  Each  year  must  furnish  the 
supplies  of  the  year,  and  when  a  failure  of  crop  takes  place 
the  miserable  people  are  swept  off  by  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands. In  the  twenty  years,  from  1818  to  1838,  there  were 
nine  years  of  famine.  That  of  1837-8  was  terrific,  yet  the 
unfortunate  people  were  surrounded  by  millions  upon  mil- 
lions of  acres  of  the  richest  lands  in  the  world  that  they 
could  not  cultivate,  because  the  government  left  them  no 
means.  The  rivers  were  choked  with  dead  bodies  in  the  pro- 
vinces where  this  very  abundance  of  wraste  land  existed  ;  the 
air  putrefied  with  the  stench  of  dead  and  dying  human  beings, 
and  animals  ;  the  jackals  and  vultures  were  seen  preying  on 
the  still  animated  bodies  of  our  fellow-creatures.  Mothers 
drowned  their  children  by  night,  unwilling  that  the  morning 
sun  should  witness  their  famishing  state  ;  and  whole  families 
of  respectability  poisoned  themselves,  rather  than  beg  a  little 
rice  for  their  support ;  and,  although  a  rupee's  worth  (half-a 
dollar)  of  grain  would  sustain  a  man  for  thirty  days,  hydro- 
phobia was  becoming  as  prevalent  as  cholera ! 

In  other  quarters,  the  dead  were  lying  in  hundreds  by  the 
road-side,  and  it  became  necessary  to  form  companies  to 
carry  them  to  the  river,  with  a  view  to  the  prevention  of  pes- 
tilence. In  Agra,  the  deaths  were  at  the  rate  of  ten  thou- 
sand per  month  :  and  yet  at  this  very  period  enormous  sums, 
the  proceeds  of  taxes  imposed  on  these  wretched  beings, 
were  being  lavished  on  the  war  in  Affghanistan ! 

So  exhausted  are  these  unfortunate  people,  that  it  becomes 
necessary  frequently  to  remit  the  taxes,  because  of  inability 
to  collect  them.  No  better  evidence  of  their  wretchedness 


INDIA.  405 

need  be  offered  than  the  fact  that  in  lower  Bengal,  one  of  the 
most  prosperous  portions  of  the  Company's  territories :  that 
in  which  they  have  been  longest  and  most  firmly  established  ; 
the  consumption  of  salt  in  three  years,  from  1834  to  1837, 
was  less  by  one-fifth  than  it  had  been  in  the  three  years  from 
1819  to  1822.  Such  is  the  necessary  effect  of  a  system  that 
drives  men  from  rich  soils  to  poor  ones ;  and  then  refuses  to 
supply  even  a  defined  road  to  the  unfortunate  cultivator, 
who  would  consider  himself  « rich  indeed,"  if  that  road 
were  made  practicable  for  a  cart,  to  enable  him  to  drag  the 
produce  of  his  miserable  soils  through  the  rich  black  clay 
that  lies  between  him  and  the  far  distant  river. 

Throughout  India,  the  class  of  native  great  men :  those 
who  live  by  the  labour  of  others  :  is  large.  To  them,  how- 
ever, is  to  be  added  the  whole  body  of  their  foreign  masters. 
Till  recently  one  of  these  latter  who  might  have  assaulted  a 
native  or  ploughed  up  his  land,  could  drag  him  to  a  distant 
city  where  the  cost  of  litigation  is  expensive  to  a  degree  five 
times  exceeding  those  of  the  courts  of  England,  enormous 
even  as  they  are.  Officers  of  these  courts  accumulate  im- 
mense fortunes  in  a  few  years,  out  of  the  substance  of  ruined 
suitors.  At  Madras  the  supreme  court  has,  says  Mr.  Ma- 
caulay,  fulfilled  its  mission :  it  has  beggared  every  rich  na- 
tive within  its  jurisdiction  and  is  inactive  for  want  of  some- 
body to  ruin.  Great  men  are  very  numerous,  and  their  shares 
of  the  produce  of  the  poor  soils  are  always  large.  The  la- 
bour of  collecting  their  taxes  is  great,  and  they  fix  them- 
selves their  reward.  The  system  is  the  same  wherever  men 
are  forced  to  rely  upon  those  soils  for  food.  The  many  are 
weak  and  disunited,  and  the  few  plunder  them  with  im- 
punity. 

The  Hindoo  may  well  say  that  nothing  is  left  him  but  his 
skin.  He  knows  no  freedom  but  to  die :  and  yet  he  is  the 
subject  of  England,  whose  people  are  furnishing  the  world 
with  missionary  bishops  to  teach  Christianity ;  the  basis  of 
which  is,  « Do  unto  your  neighbour  as  ye  would  that  he 


406  INDIA. 

should  do  unto  you."  He  is  the  slave  of  the  same  men  who 
look  with  "holy  horror"  upon  the  sugar  of  Brazil  and  upon 
the  cotton  of  Georgia :  the  latter  raised  by  men  who  are  better 
fed,  better  clothed,  better  lodged,  and  better  taught,  than  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  people  of  England  itself.  He  is  their 
slave  ;  for  they  will  not  permit  him  to  combine  his  exertions 
with  those  of  his  fellow  men,  to  render  their  joint  labour  pro- 
ductive. They  will  compel  him  to  send  food  and  cotton  to 
Manchester;  that  the  latter  may  be  twisted  and  woven,  and 
then  sent  back  to  him.  They  will  not  permit  concentration, 
without  which  the  rich  soils  cannot  be  reduced  to  cultiva- 
tion :  and  until  they  shall  be  cultivated,  famine  and  pestilence 
must  continue  to  sweep  off  the  population :  and  East  India 
proprietors  must  continue  to  waste  and  destroy,  annually, 
millions  of  bushels  of  salt,  that  they  may  be  enabled  to  realize 
their  dividends  from  selling  the  balance  at  a  monopoly  price 
to  the  starving  wretch  who  labours  one-half  of  the  year  to 
pay  his  rent,  and  one-fourth  of  the  balance  to  pay  for  that 
salt.  The  ecorcheurs  of  France,  who  flayed  the  unhappy 
people  engaged  in  the  preparation  of  the  great  food-producing 
machine,  were  bad ;  but  those  of  England  in  India  are  worse. 
It  is,  throughout,  a  system  of  unmatched  atrocity.  Such  is 
the  condition  of  the  men  who  raise  the  « free"  cotton  of 
India. 

Nearly  a  century  has  now  rolled  round,  since,  by  the 
battle  of  Plassy,  the  ascendency  of  England  in  that  great 
country  was  secured  ;  and  such  is  the  result.  The  Hindoo 
raises  cotton,  but  he  consumes  only  so  much  as  will  give  him 
a  strip  to  cover  his  loins.  He  raises  rice  ;  but  he  eats  little, 
for  he  may  not  even  clean  it :  and  all  this  is  done  that  Eng- 
land may  be  the  workshop  of  the  world,  and  that  great  ma- 
nufacturers may  accumulate  millions  by  aid  of  the  labour  of 
over- worked  and  under-fed  operatives.  A  system  more  self- 
ish and  unsound  could  not  be  conceived  ;  nor  could  one 
more  utterly  destructive,  both  for  herself  and  others,  possibly 
exist.  The  results,  everywhere,  are  the  same :  perpetual 


INDIA.  407 

change  of  system,  and  perpetual  need  of  change.  Canada 
stagnates :  and  governors  and  forms  of  government  are 
changed,  but  Canada  still  remains  motionless.  Ireland 
starves,  and  Irishmen  shoot  agents :  and  curfew  laws,  and 
bills  prohibiting  the  carrying  of  arms,  are  passed  ;  but  Ireland 
still  starves  and  borrows,  and  will  not  pay,  because  she  can- 
not. Jamaica  tries  hill-coolies  and  free  negroes  :  and  coolies 
and  negroes  fail :  and  Jamaica  still  is  poor.  India  cannot 
send  cotton  that  will  sell,  and  agents  are  sent  to  teach  the 
poor  Hindoo  :  who  still  cannot  send  cotton,  because  the  rich 
soils  are  so  abundant  that  his  half-starved  cattle,  driven  by 
their  half-fed  owner,  cannot  wade  through  them.  Australia 
raises,  on  the  poorest  soils,  a  small  supply  of  wool  for  which 
she  must  be  paid  ;  while  paying  nothing  for  six  millions  of 
dollars  annually  charged  to  her  account.  English  capitalists 
now  propose  railroads  in  India  :  but  railroads  never  pay 
when  made  for  people  who  cultivate  the  poorest  soils,  and 
cannot  themselves  make  roads.  India  will  grow  rich, 
and  rapidly  grow,  when  India  shall  be  independent,  and 
shall  protect  herself  against  the  radical  error  of  the  English 
system  ;  but  until  she  shall  do  so :  until  she  shall  acquire 
power  to  place  the  consumer  by  the  side  of  the  producer :  she 
must  remain  poor.  In  few  countries  of  the  world  would 
population  and  wealth  grow  so  rapidly,  were  she  left  alone : 
but  so  long  as  she  must  remit  twenty  millions  to  pay  interest, 
and  raise  so  many  other  millions  to  pay  armies  and  officers, 
while  compelled  to  cultivate  the  poorest  soils  with  the  worst 
machinery,  neither  can  increase.  England  may  change,  and 
change  again,  abroad :  but,  before  she  can  effect  any  im- 
provement, she  must  learn  to  look  at  home,  and  not  abroad  : 
she  must  abandon  the  use  of  temporary  machinery  and  take 
to  that  which  is  permanent :  she  must  raise  her  own  food,  and 
permit  others  to  consume  their  own.  She  must  increase  her 
producers,  and  she  must  permit  others  to  increase  their  con- 
sumers :  and  when  she  shall  do  that,  India  and  Canada, 
Jamaica  and  Australia,  will  grow  rich,  while  she  will  grow 


408  INDIA. 

richer :  but  she  will  then  cease  to  want  colonies,  or  armies, 
or  fleets,  or  great  men.  In  the  annals  of  the  world  there  is 
recorded  no  instance  of  self-deception  greater  than  that  which 
she  now  exhibits,  except,  perhaps,  in  that  of  France,  who 
seeks  dominion  by  aid  of  the  sword  alone,  while  she  goes 
with  sword  and  yard-stick.  To  which  of  the  two  should  be 
awarded  the  credit  of  doing  most  to  prevent  the  increase  of 
human  happiness,  it  might  be  difficult  to  decide ;  but  we  are 
disposed  to  think  that  she  would  carry  off  the  palm.  France 
wasted  the  Palatinate  with  fire  and  sword.  The  work  accom- 
plished, the  armies  were  withdrawn.  The  poor  people  who 
were  left  breathed  again :  and,  in  time,  they  might  restore 
their  houses,  and  obtain  fresh  spades  and  ploughs  to  enable 
them  to  cultivate  the  rich  soils.  The  yard-stick  of  England 
is  a  much  more  effective  instrument.  It  produces  famines 
and  pestilences,  recurring  year  after  year,  to  sweep  off  all  the 
population  rendered  surplus  by  the  denial  of  the  power  of 
concentration.  Her  army  is  never  withdrawn.  The  houses 
that  it  levels  cannot  be  rebuilt.  The  spades  and  ploughs 
that  it  destroys  cannot  be  replaced.  The  people  must  go  to 
the  poor  soils,  and  they  must  have  famines  to  keep  the 
population  down  to  the  supply  of  food  that  England  permits 
them  to  produce.  The  Company  are  disciples  of  Mr.  Mal- 
thus.  They  take  rent  for  the  use  of  the  "  original  and  inde- 
structible powers"  of  a  soil  that  possesses  scarcely  any  power, 
and  thus  starve  the  population  down  to  the  level  of  sub- 
sistence. 

The  PAST  says  to  the  people  of  England  of  the  PRESENT  : 
« I  have  sinned.  I  have  beggared  the  people  of  India.  I 
have  taxed  them  until  they  have  been  forced  to  abandon  the 
rich  soils,  which  are  now  overgrown.  I  have  applied  the 
proceeds  of  taxes  and  contributions  to  the  building  of  facto- 
ries that  have  enabled  me  to  ruin  their  poor  fashioner.  I  have 
driven  them  from  making  cloth  to  raising  opium.  I  have 
destroyed  the  power  of  concentration.  I  have  produced  fa- 
mine and  pestilence.  I  have  converted  people  who  were 


INDIA.  409 

free  into  slaves.  I,  too,  have  suffered.  My  people  have 
starved,  because  Hindoos  were  unable  to  buy  cloth,  and  food 
was  dear.  Take  warning  by  my  example.  Apply  your 
labour  to  the  improvement  of  the  great  machine.  Raise  your 
own  food,  and  permit  the  poor  Hindoo  to  make  his  own  cloth. 
Do  unto  them  as  ye  would  that  they  should  do  unto  you,  and 
let  them  govern  themselves.  They  will  then  increase  in 
numbers  and  in  wealth,  and  ye  will  then  increase  more 
rapidly." 


3F  35 


410  ANNEXATION. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

ANNEXATION. 

THE  people  who  cultivate  the  poor  soils  cluster  round  the 
hill-sides,  and  they  are  separated  from  their  nearest  neigh- 
bours by  large  tracts  of  rich  soil  covered  with  forests,  and 
watered  by  broad  rivers.  With  the  growth  of  "wealth  and 
population  the  rich  soils  are  brought  into  activity :  and  with 
each  step  the  tendency  to  union  is  increased,  and  the  nu- 
merous tribes  ultimately  combine  to  make  one  great,  and 
rich,  and  powerful  State. 

While  the  people  of  England  cultivated  the  poor  soils  of 
the  centre  and  south,  the  rich  soils  of  Northumberland  and 
Cumberland,  and  those  of  the  south  of  Scotland,  were  occu- 
pied by  a  race  of  people,  half-savage,  to  whom  plunder  offered 
employment  more  agreeable  than  labour :  and  a  state  of  per- 
petual war  was  the  natural  result.  With  the  growth  of  popu- 
lation and  of  wealth,  the  smaller  tribe  was  annexed  to  the 
larger,  and  the  kingdom  of  Great  Britain  was  formed. 

For  centuries  France  has  been  engaged  in  the  work  of 
annexation  :  but  she  has  cultivated  the  poor  soils,  and  failure 
has  been  the  result.  Piedmont  has  been  repeatedly  annexed, 
but  annexation  would  not  stand.  Italy,  and  the  Netherlands, 
and  Holland,  have  been  annexed :  but  the  strong  repulsive 
power  of  poverty  again  produced  separation.  She  is  now 
annexing  Algeria:  but  the  union  cannot  stand,  for  France  is 
poor  and  still  cultivates  poor  soils. 

Holland  and  Belgium  were  annexed,  but  the  first  loved 
ships,  colonies,  and  commerce ;  and  foreign  subjects :  and 
looked  abroad,  while  the  people  of  Belgium  desired  to  look 
to  home.  The  one  desired  to  cultivate  the  distant  poor  lands, 
while  the  other  preferred  the  near  rich  ones.  The  Dutch 


ANNEXATION.  411 

were  expelled,  and  Belgium  adopted  the  measures  necessary 
for  enabling  her  people  to  concentrate  themselves  for  the 
prosecution  of  the  work  of  improving  the  great  machine. 
She  now  advances  rapidly  in  wealth  and  population,  while 
Holland  implores  her  flying  citizens  not  to  desert  their  country 
in  its  hour  of  distress. 

The  British  colonies  are  poor,  and  so  they  are  likely  to 
remain.  Unable  to  protect  themselves,  they  feel  in  all  its 
force  the  perpetual  vacillation  of  British  policy.  Concentra- 
tion for  the  cultivation  of  fertile  soils  cannot  take  place. 
The  repulsive  power  is  strong,  and  their  connection  with  the 
parent  country  draws  towards  its  close.  From  year  to  year 
new  measures  are  adopted  for  their  government.  Slaves  are 
bought  and  freed  in  the  west,  while  slaves  are  being  made 
in  the  east :  and  hill-coolies  now  cultivate  sugar  for  their 
masters  on  the  fertile  soils  of  Berbice  and  Demerara,  while 
the  lately  emancipated  slave  raises  yams  on  the  higher  and 
more  healthy  land  for  himself.  At  one  time  slave  sugar  is 
prohibited,  and  arrangements  are  made  for  raising  free  sugar. 
At  another,  slave  sugar  is  admitted,  and  the  producer  of  free 
sugar  is  ruined.  Thus  is  the  system,  internal  and  external, 
one  of  perpetual  change,  and  ruinous  to  all  that  are  intimately 
connected  with  her. 

Forced  unions  are  effected,  and  general  associations  are 
now  proposed,  but  at  home  the  measures  are  the  same. 
The  mother  country  will  buy  food,  and  will  pay  for  it  with 
the  produce  of  steam-engines  and  mills,  instead  of  raising 
her  own  food  and  permitting  the  colonists  to  have  mills  and 
engines  of  their  own.  They  must  be  made  to  continue  to 
use  bad  machinery  of  exchange,  and  they  must  therefore 
continue  poor.  Annexation  by  the  mother  country  is,  there- 
fore, impossible,  and  separation  must  come. 

In  the  United  States,  we  witness,  at  the  present  moment, 
the  process  of  annexation  on  the  north  and  south.  On  the 
one  hand,  the  people  who  cultivate  rich  soils  are  rapidly 
annexing  Canada  by  aid  of  the  peaceful  machinery  afforded 


412  ANNEXATION. 

by  increasing  wealth.  On  the  other,  those  who  cultivate  the 
poor  soils  of  the  south  and  west  are  striving  at  the  annexa- 
tion of  Mexico  by  the  unprofitable  machinery  of  war.  The 
one  is  making  friends  and  strength.  The  other  is  as  busily 
employed  in  wasting  its  powers  in  making  foes.  The  suc- 
cess of  the  one  is  certain.  The  failure  of  the  other  is  almost 
equally  so.  The  one  pursues  the  mode  that  gave  union  to 
the  few  scattered  colonies  :  that  of  honest  labour.  The  other 
that  which  has  in  all  times  given  to  France  disunion  and 
weakness  :  that  of  arms.  Canada  will  come  into  the  Union, 
and  Mexico  most  probably  will  not.  The  north  will  grow 
strong  by  peace,  and  the  south  will  grow  weak  by  war. 
The  north  concentrates  its  forces  and  places  the  consumer 
by  the  side  of  the  producer,  and  hence  her  attractive  power. 
The  south  sends  the  consumer  to  Mexico  while  the  producer 
remains  at  home,  and  hence  her  repulsive  power.  In  the 
north  land  is  valuable,  yet  greediness  of  land  has  no  exist- 
ence. In  the  south  and  west  land  is  cheap  and  abundant, 
and  hence  the  desire  to  have  more  land.  If  the  south  and 
west  desire  to  have  power  or  to  retain  it,  they  must  study 
concentration  and  not  dispersion.  The  more  land  they  have, 
the  weaker  they  become  :  while  at  every  step  in  the  growth 
of  northern  population,  land  becomes  less  abundant  and 
strength  increases.  The  love  of  land  is  the  characteristic 
of  the  barbarian  who  cultivates  poor  soils.  The  love  of 
man  is  that  of  the  civilized  man  who  cultivates  rich  soils. 
The  one  loves  war  and  remains  weak.  The  other  loves  peace 
and  grows  in  strength. 

The  expenditure  of  ten  millions  in  placing  the  consumer 
of  food  by  the  producer  of  cotton  and  food,  would  double 
the  power  of  the  south.  The  expenditure  of  a  hundred 
millions  in  adding  Mexico  to  the  Union  will  diminish  that 
power  in  the  same  proportion :  yet  they  will  have  wars, 
for  throughout  the  south,  in  default  of  concentration,  there 
are  always  found  thousands  anxious  to  manage  the  affairs 
of  nations,  having  no  business  at  home  to  demand  their 


ANNEXATION.  413 

care.  Hence  it  is  that  claimants  for  public  employment 
abound  at  the  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  while  in  the 
land  east  of  the  Hudson  they  are  few.  The  great  men  of  the 
south  seek  public  life.  The  greatest  men  of  the  north  find 
more  advantage  in  private  life.  The  one  furnishes  the  world 
with  statesmen,  generals,  and  colonels  :  the  class  of  men  who 
spend  much  and  produce  nothing.  The  other  with  mer- 
chants and  manufacturers,  wrho  produce  much  and  spend 
little.  The  one  becomes  rich,  and  with  the  rich  man  annexa- 
tion is  easy.  The  other  prevents  himself  from  growing  rich, 
and  with  him  annexation  is  difficult. 

The  United  States  need  concentration  and  not  disper- 
sion. Peacefully  annexed,  Mexico  would  do  no  harm,  but 
she  would  not  add  materially  to  the  power  of  the  Union,  or 
to  the  happiness  of  the  people.  She  would  gain  much. 
They  would  gain  but  little,  yet  they  would  gain,  for  all  na- 
tions prosper  by  the  prosperity  of  their  neighbours.  With- 
in the  Union,  Mexico  would  speedily  double  her  popula- 
tion, and  that  population  would  be  as  quiet  and  as  indus- 
trious as  any  in  the  world.  The  people  everywhere  love 
peace,  and  everywhere  they  will  labour,  when  improve- 
ment is  felt  to  follow  exertion.  Their  rulers  alone  love 
war.  The  peaceful  annexation  of  Mexico  would  be  a 
great  work,  but  the  accomplishment  of  that  object  re- 
quires spades  and  steam-engines,  not  swords  and  cannon. 
It  would  be  a  great  boon  conferred  upon  the  world. 
Southern  Europe :  France,  Spain,  and  Italy  :  need  an  out- 
let for  their  people,  desirous  to  escape  from  taxation  and 
misrule,  and  were  Mexico  a  part  of  the  Union,  she  would 
attract  much  of  the  best  population  of  those  countries ;  and 
would  do  much  towards  rendering  man  more  valuable  in 
the  estimation  of  men  who  have  land,  and  of  those  who 
exercise  power.  It  would  be  a  great  work,  and  it  is  deepl) 
to  be  regretted  that  the  thirst  for  land  should  have  produced 
a  war  that  tends  to  prevent  a  measure  so  important  for  the 
improvement  of  the  condition  of  man. 

35* 


414  ANNEXATION. 

With  the  growth  of  wealth  and  population  men  cultivate 
better  soils,  and  land  becomes  divided.  With  the  division  of 
land  comes  the  union  of  man,  and  with  union  comes  the 
power  of  man  over  himself,  his  thoughts  and  actions,  his 
labour  and  its  proceeds.  With  self-government  comes  peace. 
With  peace,  armies,  and  navies,  and  taxes,  disappear.  With 
each  step  in  this  course  the  attractive  power  increases,  and 
the  repulsive  force  diminishes,  and  the  tendency  to  annexa- 
tion :  or  to  the  union  of  nations  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
perfect  freedom  of  man  as  a  producer,  a  fashioner,  or  an 
exchanger :  as  a  thinker  or  an  actor :  grows.  With  each, 
wealth  and  population  tend  more  rapidly  to  increase,  and 
with  each,  man  becomes  more  and  more  a  being  of  power, 
and  less  a  victim  of  necessity. 

The  PAST  says  to  the  people  of  the  PRESENT  :  I  have  made 
war  and  preparations  for  wrar.  I  have  kept  on  foot  large 
fleets  and  armies,  and  have  raised  heavy  taxes.  I  have  pre- 
vented the  growth  of  wealth  and  population.  I  have  com- 
pelled men  to  cultivate  the  poor  soils  of  the  earth.  I  have 
prevented  the  division  of  land  and  the  union  of  men  and  of 
nations.  I  have  made  the  few  strong  and  the  many  weak. 
Take  warning  by  my  example.  Cultivate  peace.  Permit 
population  to  grow,  and  ye  will  cultivate  rich  soils.  Wealth 
will  then  grow  rapidly  and  land  will  be  divided.  Men 
and  nations  will  then  become  united.  Armies,  and  navies, 
and  taxes,  will  disappear,  and  the  many  will  become  strong, 
while  the  few  will  become  weak.  All  will  then  exercise  the 
power  of  perfect  self-government,  and  all  will  learn  to  respect 
in  others  those  rights  they  would  desire  to  have  respected  in 
themselves. 


CIVILIZATION.  415 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

CIVILIZATION. 

CIVILIZATION  has,  in  all  ages  and  countries,  been  found 
where  men  have  accumulated  wealth  by  means  of  which  they 
have  been  enabled  to  subject  to  cultivation  the  rich  soils  of  the 
earth :  and  it  has  disappeared  as  they  have  been  forced  to 
abandon  them  and  fly  to  the  poor  soils  of  the  hills  for  safety. 
Concentration  on  the  former  is  essential  to  the  progress  of 
civilization.  With  each  step  therein  we  have  diminished 
machinery  of  exchange :  physical  and  intellectual.  Men  ex- 
change more  directly  with  each  other  the  products  of  their 
mind  and  of  their  hands :  and  with  each  step  production, 
material  and  intellectual,  tends  to  increase.  With  the  in- 
crease of  material  product,  the  proportion  of  the  labourer  in- 
creases, while  that  of  land  diminishes  :  and  with  each  step,  land 
tends  to  become  more  and  more  divided.  With  the  increase 
of  intellectual  product,  the  machinery  for  the  communication 
of  ideas  improves,  and  the  labourer  finds  increased  facility 
of  obtaining  knowledge,  while  the  teacher  obtains  from  a 
small  contribution  on  the  part  of  each  of  his  readers  or  hear- 
ers a  largely  increased  reward.  Each  step,  therefore,  in  the 
progress  of  civilization  is  marked  by  a  tendency  to  equality 
of  physical  and  intellectual  condition,  and  to  the  general 
ownership  of  wealth,  whether  in  land  or  other  machinery  of 
production :  or  in  the  possession  of  books,  pictures,  statuary, 
or  other  things  tending  to  promote  intellectual  advancement. 

With  the  division  of  land  and  the  diffusion  of  wealth,  the 
power  of  the  few  tends  to  diminish,  while  the  number  of  per- 
sons interested  in  the  maintenance  of  peace  and  in  the  enforce- 
ment of  perfect  security  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  rights  of  person 


416  CIVILIZATION. 

and  property  tends  to  increase  ;  and  moral  feeling  improves, 
because  of  the  increased  facility  of  obtaining  the  necessaries, 
conveniences  and  comforts  of  life.  Improvement  and  a  ten- 
dency towards  perfect  equality  of  moral  feeling  are  therefore 
characteristics  of  civilization.  With  each  step  in  this  pro- 
gress, jealousy  and  avarice  disappear,  and  harmony  and  good 
feeling,  and  liberality  of  thought  and  of  action,  appear :  ge- 
nerosity towards  the  weak  takes  the  place  of  oppression : 
woman  becomes  the  companion  of  man  and  ceases  to  be  his 
slave :  children  cease  to  be  slaves  and  come  to  be  compa- 
nions :  parents  cease  to  be  tyrants,  and  children  respect  and 
love  them :  and  all,  men,  women  and  children,  acquire  the 
habit  of  self-government.  With  each  step  the  necessity  for 
the  use  of  the  machinery  of  government,  public  or  private, 
tends  to  disappear,  and  with  each  the  power  of  man  to  go- 
vern himself  is  seen  to  increase.  With  each,  the  cost  of 
government  decreases  :  and  with  each,  wealth  grows  with  in- 
creased rapidity,  enabling  man  to  bring  into  activity  better 
soils,  followed  by  a  further  increase  in  the  return  to  labour, 
and  facilitating  further  accumulation.  With  each,  he  acquires 
more  and  more  the  feeling  of  confidence  in  himself  and  in  the 
future,  and  with  each,  he  becomes  more  and  more  animated 
by  HOPE.  With  each,  he  learns  more  and  more  to  appreciate 
the  comforts  indicated  by  the  good  old  English  word  HOME, 
and  more  and  more  to  find  in  the  great  command  to  "  do 
unto  others  as  he  would  that  others  should  do  unto  him,"  the 
guide  of  all  his  thoughts,  his  feelings,  and  his  actions. 

Civilization  is  marked  by  elevation  and  equality  of  physi- 
cal, moral,  intellectual,  and  political  condition,  and  by  the 
tendency  towards  union  and  harmony  among  men  and  na- 
tions. The  highest  civilization  is  marked  by  the  most  per- 
fect individuality  and  the  greatest  tendency  to  union,  whe- 
ther of  men  or  of  nations. 

In  the  early  history  of  Attica,  the  tendency  towards  civili- 
zation was  very  great,  but  the  destruction  of  wealth  and  con- 
sequent deterioration  of  physical  condition  attendant  upon  the 


CIVILIZATION.  417 

Persian  wars,  was  followed  by  a  deterioration  of  moral  and 
political  condition.  The  people  learned  to  live  on  the  labours 
of  others,  while  themselves  the  slaves  of  demagogues  who 
distributed  among  their  followers  small  wages,  the  proceeds 
of  taxation  and  oppression ;  and  who  employed  their  share 
of  the  plunder  in  creating  gardens,  and  building  temples,  to 
hand  down  to  admiring  posterity  their  illustrious  names. 
Individuals  now  give  names  to  the  times  in  which  they  live,  al- 
ways a  sign  of  declining  civilization.  The  period  most  distin- 
guished by  lust  for  power  and  "  glory,"  and  known  as  the  age 
of  Pericles,  which  owes  its  celebrity  to  men  whose  existence 
was  one  of  the  results  of  the  previous  age  of  peace  and  growing 
wealth,  bequeathed  to  posterity  Aristophanes,  to  whom  we  are 
indebted  as  the  vivid  painter  of  the  vices  of  the  "lazy,  cow- 
ardly, talkative,  and  money-loving"  tribe  by  whom  he  was  sur- 
rounded. With  each  step  downward  the  few  become  greater 
and  more  profligate.  Generals  plunder  cities  and  betray  their 
fellow-citizens.  Great  orators  make  speeches  on  one  side  and 
take  bribes  on  the  other,  while  the  people  become  more  and 
more  impoverished  and  enslaved.  Depravity  and  corruption, 
the  necessary  consequences  of  unceasing  war  and  growing  in- 
equality, become  universal,  and  with  the  decay  of  morals  we 
mark  a  steady  increase  of  superstition  and  fanaticism,  and  all 
other  of  the  characteristics  of  increasing  barbarism. 

In  early  Rome  we  find  a  compliance  with  all  the  conditions 
of  advancing  civilization,  but  with  each  step  in  the  progress  of 
war  and  waste,  we  mark  its  decline.  Great  men  have  palaces 
filled  with  their  poor  and  enslaved  debtors.  Scipio,  Metellus, 
and  others,  form  courts  around  themselves,  wherein  the  arts  are 
exercised  and  the  sciences  taught  by  slaves,  while  the  streets 
of  Rome  witness  exhibitions  of  captured  princes  and  prin- 
cesses, followed  by  thousands  of  captives  and  the  plunder 
of  conquered  nations ;  and  terminating  in  the  execution,  in 
cold  blood,  at  the  capitol,  of  all  who  might  be  supposed  to  pos- 
sess power  to  affect  the  future  distribution  of  the  spoils  of  the 
3G 


418  CIVILIZATION. 

world.*  With  each  step  in  the  downward  progress,  festivals 
and  games  become  more  magnificent  and  more  brutal,  and 
the  people  become  more  and  more  pauperized  :  the  great 
men  become  greater,  and  the  little  men  become  less  :  until 
at  length  the  exhausted  empire  becomes  the  property  of  bar- 
barians, and  civilization  disappears  from  the  earth. 

In  the  history  of  France,  we  see  little  tendency  towards 
civilization.  Wealth  could  not  grow,  and  man  could  not 
concentrate  himself  for  the  cultivation  of  the  fertile  soils  :  and 
therefore  has  he  remained  always  poor  and  disunited.  For 
want  of  roads,  he  has  been  unable  to  meet  his  fellow  man 
for  the  exchange  of  physical  or  intellectual  products :  and, 
for  want  of  a  common  language,  he  and  his  fellow  man 
have  been  unable  to  correspond,  or  to  understand  each  other 
if  they  met.f  None  of  the  conditions  of  civilization  are  here 
complied  with.  Everywhere  we  see  inferiority  and  ine- 
quality of  physical,  moral,  intellectual,  and  political  con- 
dition.^: 

M.  Guizot  regards  France  as  "the  centre:  the  focus:  of  the 
civilization  of  Europe."  That  country  is  and  has  been,  in  his 
estimation,  the  great  leader  in  European  civilization,  at  the 

*  In  relation  to  this  period,  M.  Guizot  says  :  «  Take  Rome,  for  example, 
in  the  splendid  days  of  the  republic,  at  the  close  of  the  second  Punic  war ; 
the  moment  of  her  greatest  virtues,  when  she  was  rapidly  advancing  to  the 
empire  of  the  world — when  her  social  condition  was  evidently  impromng" 

•j-  German  is  even  now  the  language  of  an  important  portion  of  the  people, 
and  the  patois  of  one  part  of  the  kingdom  is  scarcely  understood  in  another. 

$  "  The  official  returns  of  particular  classes  of  the  population,  such  as  the 
conscripts  and  the  convicts,  recognise  three  degrees  of  ignorance  and  three  of 
instruction.  Taking  these  returns  as  the  basis  of  our  calculations,  we  find  the 
following  results  for  the  whole  of  the  population : — 

1.  Unable  to  read  and  to  write  -         -         -  16,855,000 

2.  Able  to  read,  but  not  to  write      -  7,097,000 

3.  Reading  and  writing,  but  incorrectly        ...    6,968,000 

4.  Reading  and  writing  correctly  -         -         .         2,430,000 

5.  Having  the  elements  of  classical  education       •         -       735,000 

6.  Having  completed  their  classical  studies       -         -         -  315,000 

34,400,000" 
France.     London,  1844. 


CIVILIZATION.  419 

head  of  which,  from  its  peculiar  qualities,  "  it  has  been  emi- 
nently qualified  to  march." 

To  us,  she  appears  in  the  light  of  the  constant  and  un- 
wearied foe  of  civilization.  To  her  was  due  the  destruction 
of  the  Lombard  kingdom  of  Italy,  in  which  civilization  was 
rapidly  advancing.  By  her  was  Italy  afterwards  exhausted 
and  delivered  over  to  the  ferocious  Spaniard.  By  her  have 
since  been  commenced  all  the  wars  that,  from  the  days  of 
Ferdinand  and  Charles  V.,  have  prevented  any  advance 
towards  the  improvement  of  the  condition  of  its  inhabitants : 
ever  unfortunate  in  their  proximity  to  poor  neighbours,  who 
saw  in  their  wealthy  cities,  and  in  their  treasures  of  art, 
plunder  that  they  desired  to  appropriate. 

By  her  were  the  Netherlands  and  Holland  ruined.  To 
her  are  due  the  expulsion  of  the  best  citizens  of  both :  the 
exhaustion  of  their  wealth :  the  abandonment  of  rich  soils, 
arid  the  cultivation  of  poor  ones :  and  to  her  is  due  the  pre- 
sent enormous  debt  under  which  the  industry  of  Holland  is 
paralyzed. 

If  we  turn  our  eyes  southward,  the  same  picture  meets 
our  eye.  Catalonia  was  advancing  in  civilization,  and  there- 
fore was  it  coveted.  Therefore  was  it  made  the  scene  of 
ceaseless  wars  in  which  was  destroyed  enormous  wealth, 
while  the  poor  inhabitants  were  driven  to  seek  from  the  poor 
soils  of  the  hills  the  return  to  labour  which  the  fertile  soils 
were  no  longer  permitted  to  yield.  Had  France  not  existed, 
civilization  would  have  spread  throughout  Spain:  for  had 
France  not  existed,  the  people  who  cultivated  the  poor  soils  of 
Spain  could  not  have  drawn  from  Italy  the  means  of  destroy- 
ing the  civilization  of  those  who  cultivated  the  rich  ones. 

If  now  we  look  towards  Germany,  we  see  France  the 
perpetual  enemy  of  the  free  cities  :  the  perpetual  ravager  of 
the  rich  lands,  and  unceasingly  engaged  in  their  depopulation. 
To  her  intrigues  was  due  the  desolation  of  the  Thirty  Years' 
war.  To  her  was  due  the  control  by  the  house  of  Austria 
of  the  passage  of  the  Valteline,  by  means  of  which  Spanish 


420  CIVILIZATION. 

troops  from  Italy  were  enabled  to  co-operate  with  those  of 
the  execrable  Ferdinand  in  the  destruction  of  the  wealth  of 
Germany :  and  in  the  establishment  of  unlimited  control  over 
the  modes  of  thinking  and  acting  of  the  people  of  Bohe- 
mia, till  then  ranking  among  the  most  civilized  people  of 
Europe.  To  her  unceasing  jealousy  of  Austria  were  due  the 
perpetual  invasions  of  her  Turkish  allies,  by  which  all  eastern 
Europe  was  impoverished. 

If  we  turn  our  eyes  towards  Genoa,  or  Venice,  or  Sicily, 
or  Corsica,  the  result  is  the  same.  Wherever  civilization 
endeavoured  to  raise  its  head,  there  were  found  French 
armies  engaged  in  the  work  of  its  destruction.  It  could 
not  be  otherwise.  France  kept  herself  poor,  and  her  peo- 
ple were  driven  to  the  cultivation  of  the  least  fertile  soils  : 
.and  hence  they  were  always  preying  upon  each  other. 
Hence  the  barbarism  of  the  Feudal  System,  which  she  in- 
flicted upon  Europe :  hence  the  horrors  of  the  Jacquerie : 
hence  the  universal  proscription  of  the  industrious  Hu- 
guenots :  the  atrocities  of  St.  Bartholomew's  night,  and  of  the 
dragonnades :  and  hence  the  enormous  mass  of  crime  and 
misery  that  attended  the  Revolution.  The  tendency  of 
every  thing  in  France  has  been  to  produce  poverty  and  ine- 
quality :  and  thus  it  is  that  we  see  such  vast  wealth  side  by 
side  with  extreme  wretchedness.  The  few  have  been,  and 
are,  the  controllers  of  the  destinies  of  the  people,  who  have 
had  no  voice  in  the  regulation  of  their  own  actions :  or  in  the 
disposal  of  the  proceeds  of  their  labour  :  or  in  the  determi- 
nation of  their  modes  of  thought. 

M.  Guizot  informs  us  that,  "  as  a  general  thing,  in  France, 
ideas  have  preceded  and  impelled  the  progress  of  the  social 
order ;  they  have  been  prepared  in  doctrine  before  being 
accomplished  in  things,  and  in  the  march  of  civilization 
mind  has  taken  the  lead."  Theories  have  certainly  always 
preceded  the  accomplishment  of  "things,"  and  to  the  fact  that 
it  has  been  so  it  is  due  that  the  latter  have  made  so  little  pro- 
gress. Knowledge  is  acquired  from  the  study  of  the  laws 


CIVILIZATION.  421 

of  nature,  and  where  those  laws  are  habitually  set  aside  they 
cannot  be  studied.  They  have  been  set  aside,  uniformly 
and  steadily,  in  France ;  and  hence  it  is  that  "  mind"  has 
taken  the  lead,  and  that  laws  have  been  manufactured  by 
great  men,  who  have  "  impelled  the  progress  of  the  social 
order"  in  the  direction  that  suited  their  purpose.  The  theory 
of  the  barons  of  the  middle  ages  was,  that  they  held  their 
power  from  God  himself,  and  that  they  had  a  right  to  make 
war  on  their  own  account :  to  exercise  the  droit  de  jam- 
bage  et  de  cuissage :  and  to  follow  the  serf  and  seize  his  per- 
son and  his  goods :  most  of  which  may  be  found  reasserted 
almost  in  our  own  day,  by  Montlosier.  They  held  that  "  the 
liberties  of  the  Gallican  church"  were  perfectly  secured  when 
the  right  of  nomination  to  all  places  in  that  church  was  in 
their  hands,  and  when  they  could  accumulate  bishoprics  with 
immense  revenues  in  the  hands  of  their  bastards  and  de- 
pendents. They  held,  too,  that  «  glory"  was  the  great  pur- 
suit of  gentlemen,  while  labour  was  worthy  only  of  slaves. 
France  has  always  been  the  land  of  very  great  and  very  lit- 
tle men :  of  those  who  respected  no  rights  in  others,  and 
could  command  from  others  no  respect  for  their  own.  The 
great  had  no  leisure  to  study  the  laws  of  nature,  and  the 
small  were  too  poor  and  too  miserable  to  have  time  or  mind 
so  to  do.  The  starving  man  has  no  leisure  to  study  any 
thing  but  how  to  obtain  food.  Wherever  civilization  has  ex- 
isted, it  has  gone  from  below  upwards  :  from  the  people  who 
minded  their  own  business,  to  those  who  lived  by  managing 
the  affairs  of  others.  The  great  have  always  been  the  foes 
of  civilization :  while  the  small  have  been  its  friends.  From 
the  ranks  of  the  people  sprang  Bacon  and  Locke,  Shakspeare 
and  Milton,  Watt  and  Arkwright ;  men  to  whom  mankind 
are  more  indebted  than  to  all  the  kings  and  princes  the  earth 
has  seen.  These  men  were  observers  of  nature,  and  recorders 
of  her  modes  of  operation.  They  lived  among  a  people  ac- 
customed more  than  any  other  in  Europe  to  permit  the  laws  of 
nature  to  act :  and  there,  and  there  alone,  could  her  laws  be 

36 


422  CIVILIZATION. 

studied.  The  essential  difference  between  English  and 
French  mind  is  that  one  is  based  upon  observation  and  the 
other  is  not,  and  therefore  it  is  that  in  France  "  ideas"  have 
been  so  numerous  ;  but  there,  as  everywhere  else,  theory  has 
been  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  knowledge.  Theories  in  relation 
to  Christianity  most  abounded  when  its  practice  least  existed. 
The  immaculate  conception  was  most  ardently  debated  at 
the  time  when  the  Church  sold  absolution  for  the  worst  crimes 
at  the  cheapest  rate.  The  theory  of  France,  at  all  times,  has 
been  that  her  own  grandeur  was  in  ratio  of  the  littleness  of 
her  neighbours :  yet  littleness  has  been  her  characteristic,  in 
the  field  and  in  the  cabinet.  To  that  theory  it  is  due  that 
she  has  at  all  times  made  herself  "the  focus:  the  centre:" 
not  of  civilization,  but  of  corruption  and  intrigue,  and  hence 
it  is  that  she  is  dreaded  by  all  the  friends  of  freedom.  She 
abounds  now  in  theories.  St.  Simonianism  and  other  sys- 
tems of  forced  union  have  their  origin  where,  the  tenden- 
cy to  voluntary  union  least  exists.  The  advocates  of  each 
successive  theory  hold  that  they  alone  have  the  truth :  and 
thus  St.  Simonianism  is  now  persecuted,  as  Jansenism,  and 
Molinism,  and  Jesuitism,  have  been  in  past  times.  Intole- 
rance towards  freedom  of  thought  marks  her  whole  history. 
Theories  of  liberty  have  always  abounded,  because  practical 
liberty  has  been  unknown.  Politico-economical  theories 
abound,  yet  in  no  part  of  the  world  is  the  true  political 
economy :  that  which  teaches  man  to  respect  in  others  those 
rights  of  which  he  desires  the  enjoyment  for  himself:  so  little 
known.  Theories  of  government,  and  constitutions,  have 
been  innumerable :  yet  government  has  always,  and  under 
every  constitution,  been  administered  for  the  sole  benefit  of 
those  charged  with  the  performance  of  its  duties.  The  present 
theory  of  France  is  that  Algeria  will  make  her  rich:  yet  she 
becomes  poorer.  Her  great  theory  is,  that  power  arid  influence 
are  to  be  sought  abroad,  and  she  maintains  great  fleets  and 
armies  out  of  the  taxes  of  a  starving  people  :  and  then  dis- 
tributes bread-tickets  to  half  the  population  of  Paris.  Through- 


CIVILIZATION.  423 

out  her  whole  system,  past  and  present,  every  thing  has  been 
"  prepared  in  doctrine  before  being  accomplished  in  things :" 
that  is,  the  few  have  undertaken  to  teach  the  many,  and  they 
have  made  laws  to  suit  themselves,  instead  of  studying  the 
laws  that  nature  made.  The  consequence  has  been,  that  no- 
thing has  been  accomplished  ;  that  French  theories  have  been 
barren,  as  must  be  all  that  are  not  based  upon  observation, 
which  cannot  take  place  where  practice  does  not  exist.  We 
are  not  aware,  at  this  moment,  of  a  single  idea  in  moral  or 
political  science  that  is  throughout  the  world  received  as  true, 
for  which  we  are  indebted  to  that  country.  Whenever  she 
shall  come  to  be  a  little  practical ;  whenever  she  shall  have 
acquired  a  little  knowledge  of  the  science  of  self-government ; 
her  theories  of  governing  others  will  cease  to  exist :  and 
whenever  she  shall  arrive  at  that  point  in  the  progress  of 
wealth  when  she  shall  cease  to  limit  her  cultivation  to  the 
poorest  soils,  voluntary  unions  may  arise,  and  then  the  system 
of  forced  unions,  whether  for  the  building  of  forts,  or  the  cul- 
tivation of  farms,  will  pass  away.  The  healthy  man  never 
studies  the  theory  of  disease  or  health.  The  sick  man  does, 
and  the  very  sick  man  gives  to  it  his  whole  time  and  mind. 
In  no  part  of  Europe  is  practice  so  unsound  as  in  France. 
In  none  do  theories  so  much  abound  :  and  in  none,  con- 
sequently, should  we  have  a  right  to  expect  to  find  the 
body-politic  more  sick.  In  none  should  we  find  it  so.  In 
none  is  the  tendency  towards  civilization  at  home  so  small : 
in  none  is  the  tendency  to  the  obstruction  of  civilization 
abroad  so  great.  For  centuries  nearly  all  the  wars  of  Eu- 
rope have  had  their  origin  in  France,  and  at  this  moment  her 
intrigues  are  the  cause  of  nearly  all  the  existing  disturbances. 
The  insular  position  of  England  has  given  her  peace,  and 
the  laws  of  nature  have  there  been  far  less  habitually  set  aside 
than  in  France.  Hence  it  is  that  she  has  given  to  the  world 
the  great  men  to  whom  we  have  already  referred  :  men  who 
owed  their  knowledge  to  a  careful  study  of  nature  and  her 
laws,  and  to  that  labour  which  is  required  of  every  man  who 


424  CIVILIZATION. 

desires  to  cultivate  the  richest  soils,  whether  physio*!  or  in- 
tellectual. 

la  no  part  of  Europe  has  the  tendency  to  civilization  been 
so  great  as  in  England :  yet,  if  we  now  examine  her  condi- 
tion, the  conditions  of  civilization  are  complied  with  in  but 
a  very  limited  degree.  She  uses  much  of  the  worst  ma- 
chinery of  exchange,  that  she  may  cultivate  poor  and  distant 
soils  while  neglecting  the  rich  ones  at  her  feet :  and  there- 
fore it  is  that  land  remains  undivided  in  the  hands  of  great 
land-owners  whose  debts.are  counted  by  millions  of  pounds, 
while  surrounded  by  labourers  living  in  mud  hovels,  and 
earning  95.  a  week.*  Here  we  have  the  civilization  of  Rome 
in  the  days  of  Pompey  and  Ca3sar :  or  that  of  Pomerania,  be- 
fore the  changes  of  the  early  years  of  the  present  century. 
Where  such  things  are,  true  civilization  has  made  little  pro- 
gress. 

Neither  can  we  see  much  of  it  in  a  system  that  enables 
great  manufacturers  to  accumulate  fortunes  of  millions  of 
pounds  out  of  the  labours  of  the  people  who  occupy  the 
wretched  cellars  of  Manchester :  great  ship-owners  to  do  the 
same,  while  surrounded  by  the  poverty  and  starvation  that 
may  be  found  in  Liverpool :  or  great  coal-proprietors,  to  fix 
monopoly  prices  upon  coal  mined  by  naked  women  and  chil- 
dren, to  enable  them  to  accumulate  fortunes  at  the  expense 
of  poor  consumers  in  London.  There  is  no  civilization  in 
the  lanes  and  alleys  of  Glasgow  ;  nor  in  its  numerous  brothels, 
filled  with  the  daughters  of  peasants  who  have  been  hunted 
out  of  their  hills,  until  in  the  northern  Highlands  the  poor 
remainder  have  degenerated  into  a  meagre  and  stunted  race. 
There  is  none  in  a  system  which  exhibits  throughout  the 
western  Highlands  and  the  Isles,  a  population  of  from  sixty 
to  eighty  thousand  always  in  a  state  of  destitution  and  ha- 
bitually dependent  upon  charity  ;  and  compelled,  in  case  of 


*  The  debts  of  one  noble  duke  are  stated  to  exceed  two  millions  of  pounds 
sterling:  and  those  of  another  have  been  stated  to  require  sixty  thousand 
pounds  for  the  payment  of  interest  alone. 


CIVILIZATION.  425 

any  deficiency  of  crops,  to  seek  foreign  aid  to  save  them  from 
the  horrors  of  starvation.  These  poor  people  pay,  for  the 
use  of  very  poor  soils,  high  rents  to  men  who  live  in  pa- 
laces :  great  men  :  always  the  bane  of  little  men.  There  is 
no  civilization  in  starving  Ireland ;  none  in  India  depopu- 
lated by  starvation  produced  by  enormous  taxation  for  the 
support  of  great  armies  maintained  for  securing  the  sale  of 
English  cloths,  or  for  the  payment  of  interest  on  loans  made 
to  their  masters  by  English  subjects,  and  dividends  on  stock 
held  by  absentee  landlords. 

So  long  as  England  shall  continue  to  constitute  herself 
head  of  a  great  empire,  that  empire  must  be  considered  as 
one  in  its  whole  length  and  breadth  ;  and  her  claims  to  rank 
in  civilization  must  be  weighed  after  an  examination  of  the 
condition  of  her  whole  people  :  the  powerful  duke  and  the  oc- 
cupant of  the  mud  hovel:  the  great  chief  of  the  clan  and  his 
miserable  tenant :  the  wealthy  manufacturer  and  the  poor 
operative :  the  Irish  landholder  and  his  starving  tenant :  the 
rich  West  India  proprietor  and  his  late  slave  :  the  East  India 
proprietor  and  his  present  slaves,  decimated,  at  brief  inter- 
vals, by  famine  and  pestilence.  So  considered,  the  claims 
of  England  to  civilization  do  not  stand  high :  nor  can  they 
do  so  while  she  shall  continue  to  present  to  view  such  enor- 
mous contrasts. 

Half  a  century  since,  and  perhaps  even  more  recently, 
might  be  seen  in  the  streets  of  Lisbon,  men  with  good  coats 
on  their  backs,  cocked  hats  upon  their  heads,  and  swords  by 
their  sides,  but  with  bare  feet  and  legs.  These  men  thought 
themselves  civilized,  and  so  does  England :  and  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  two  is  nearly  alike.  England  has  a  very  good 
coat,  by  which  her  body  is  well  covered :  but  it  has  very 
short  sleeves.  The  arms,  to  a  great  extent,  are  naked :  and 
those  arms  represent  a  large  portion  of  the  people  of  England, 
badly  fed,  badly  clothed,  and  very  badly  educated ;  while 
surrounded  by  rich  lands,  great  mills,  well-endowed  colleges, 
and  vastly  rich  bishops  and  archbishops.  Her  body  is  well 
3H  36* 


426  CIVILIZATION. 

covered,  but  her  feet  and  legs,  Ireland  and  India,  are  bare: 
and  she  keeps  them  bare,  that  she  may  have  more  to  put 
upon  her  body  :  and  she  retains  .the  sword  by  her  side,  that 
she  may  compel  them  to  remain  bare  :  that  she  may  compel 
them  to  continue  cultivating  poor  soils  in  sight  of  rich  ones 
undrained  because  of  poverty,  and  uncultivated  because  un- 
drained.  In  all  this  there  is  no  civilization. 

In  the  United  States,  the  conditions  of  civilization  are 
complied  with  to  an  extent  far  beyond  what  elsewhere 
exists,  and  if  they  are  not  fully  and  completely  so  the  cause 
is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  they  cannot  control  their  own 
actions.*  So  soon  as  they  shall  resolve  that  they  will  do  so, 
they  can  place  themselves  at  once  at  the  head  of  all  civili- 
zation. Massachusetts  does  now  occupy  that  place,  because 
she  cultivates  her  richest  soils ;  but  the  whole  nation  may 
cultivate  rich  soils,  when  it  wills  that  it  shall  be  done. 
Then  men  will  concentrate  themselves,  and  the  infinity  of 
little  schools  will  become  larger  and  better  schools,  when 
children  will  be  better  taught  at  less  cost.  Then  the  vast 
skeleton  of  railroads  and  canals  will  be  filled  up  with  branches 
leading  to  every  little  town:  and  the  little  towns  will  become 
great  towns,  because  land  wrill  increase  in  value  from  the 
great  increase  of  the  product  and  the  diminished  necessity 
for  use  of  the  machinery  of  exchange.  Then  land  will  be- 
come more  and  more  divided :  men  will  have  large  libraries 

*  Perfect  individuality  and  the  strongest  tendency  to  combination  of  action 
mark  the  highest  civilization,  and  where  they  exist  their  effects  will  be  seen 
in  the  events  of  war,  as  well  as  those  of  peace.  However  little  we  may  be 
disposed  to  approve  of  the  existing  war,  it  is  impossible  to  read  the  accounts 
of  the  recent  proceedings  in  the  valley  of  Mexico  without  being  struck  with 
the  extent  to  which  individuality  and  union  have  there  been  manifested.  Gene- 
nerals,  colonels,  captains,  and  lieutenants,  seem  to  be  acting  for,  and  by,  them- 
selves, yet  never  was  union  more  complete,  and  never  was  the  wonderful 
power  of  union  more  fully  exhibited.  We  seem  to  know  each  regiment,  each 
officer,  and  almost  each  man.  The  perfection  of  individuality  is  seen  in  the 
election  of  a  colonel  on  the  battle-field,  by  the  men  whom  he  was  to  com- 
mand :  and  in  the  return  of  the  name  of  every  man  killed  or  wounded,  from 
the  highest  officer  to  the  lowest  private.  The  perfection  of  the  power  of  union 
which  accompanies  this  individuality  is  seen  in  the  results. 


CIVILIZATION.  427 

instead  of  small  ones,  and  the  farmer  will  have  his  daily 
newspaper  instead  of  his  weekly  one  :  and  he  will  meet  and 
exchange  ideas  with  the  consumers  of  his  products  :  and  his 
mind  will  become  better  informed :  and  he  will  learn  daily 
more  and  more  how  to  manage  his  farm  and  to  govern  himself. 

Then  will  his  wife  become  more  and  more  exempt  from 
the  hardships  of  labour,  and  his  children  will  marry  and 
remain  near  him :  and  then  he  will  learn  daily  more  and 
more  to  appreciate  the  comforts  of  home :  and  he  will  more 
and  more  desire  to  render  that  home  agreeable  by  the  culti- 
vation of  flowers  and  trees,  and  by  the  collection  of  books  and 
of  instruments  calculated  to  aid  him  in  the  development  of 
his  intellect,  and  that  of  those  by  whom  he  is  surrounded. 
Then  will  the  consciousness  of  power  diminish,  and  the  sense 
of  his  duty  towards  his  fellow  man  increase :  and  then  will 
he  be  seen  daily  more  and  more  exerting  himself  to  aid  the 
afflicted  and  to  help  the  weak  :  doing  to  all,  and  daily  more 
and  more,  as  he  would  that  others  should  do  unto  him.* 

The  PAST  says  to  the  people  of  the  PRESENT:  " Civiliza- 
tion comes  with  wealth  and  the  cultivation  of  the  rich  soils. 
With  them  come  concentration,  large  wages,  increased  pro- 
ductiveness of  land,  and  increased  rents  for  the  use  of  that 
land.  Wealth  comes  with  peace.  Labour  then  for  the  main- 
tenance of  peace." 

*  Efforts  have  been  made  to  show  that  crime  is  more  abundant  in  the 
United  States  than  in  Europe.  In  the  former,  newspapers  abound  and  every 
thing  is  published.  In  the  latter,  newspapers  are  few,  and  little  is  published. 
Archbishop  Whateley  says,  and  most  correctly,  that  he  has  «  no  doubt  that  a 
single  murder  in  Great  Britain  has  often  furnished  matter  for  discourse  to 
more  than  twenty  times  as  many  persons  as  any  twenty  such  murders  would 
in  Turkey."  He  adds  that "  we  should  remember,  that  there  are  not  more 
particles  of  dust  in  the  sunbeam  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  room,  though 
we  see  them  more  where  the  light  is  stronger." 


THE    FUTURE. 


THE  population  of  the  United  States  is  at  the  present 
moment  about  twenty-one  millions ;  and  the  surface  com- 
prised within  the  existing  states  and  territories  exceeds  a 
million  of  square  miles,  or  six  hundred  and  forty  millions 
of  acres,  each  of  which  is  capable,  at  a  moderate  estimate, 
of  feeding  a  full-grown  man  :  and  were  it  properly  culti- 
vated, it  would  clothe  him  too.  The  surface,  then,  that  is 
already  organized,  is  capable  of  maintaining  six  hundred 
and  forty  millions  of  people,  or  two-thirds  of  the  whole 
population  of  the  globe :  and  yet  men  are  seen,  by  thou- 
sands and  almost  tens  of  thousands,  removing  to  Oregon  and 
California  to  appropriate  more  land,  of  which  they  must 
cultivate  the  poor  soils :  while  behind  them  are  left  fertile 
lands  covered  with  the  finest  timber,  almost  utterly  value- 
less ;  as  we  have  already  shown. 

For  the  benefit  of  the  rich  lands  from  which  man  thus  flies, 
his  predecessors  have  laboured  during  more  than  a  century. 
For  their  benefit,  they  have  made  roads,  railroads,  and  canals  : 
have  built  houses,  and  towns,  and  cities :  and  he  can  pur- 
chase them,  with  all  their  advantages  of  timber  and  soil,  at 
the  price  sometimes  of  sixty  cents  an  acre — or  one-twentieth 
of  the  interest  they  have  acquired  in  these  improvements : 
yet  he  flies  from  them  to  commence  the  work  of  cultivation 
upon  poor  land  that  has  no  value,  and  that  can  never  ac- 
quire any  but  from  the  labour  that  he  bestows  upon  it. 
He  flies  from  rich  lands  that  he  may  have  at  far  less  than 
cost,  to  obtain  poor  ones  at  full  cost :  and  a  heavy  cost  it  is. 
He  flies  from  lands  that  are  covered  with  manure  that  has 

429 


430  THE    FUTURE. 

accumulated  for  ages,  and  that  he  may  have  for  little  more 
than  the  labour  of  clearing  them,  while  men  near  towns  pay 
thousands  of  dollars  a  year  for  the  manure  yielded  by  the  pro- 
duce of  poor  lands  cultivated  by  him  and  others  like  himself. 

The  natural  tendency  of  man  is  to  combine  his  labours 
with  those  of  his  fellow  man.  He  knows  that  two  can  roll, 
and  four  can  lift,  a  log,  that  one  alone  could  neither  roll  nor 
lift.  Here,  however,  men  are  seen  flying  from  their  fellow 
men,  each  one  seeking  to  roll  his  own  log,  for  lift  it  he  can- 
not. The  labour  of  each  is  thus  wasted  on  the  road.  The 
manure  of  his  horses  is  wasted  on  the  road  :  and  his  labour 
is  unprofitably  employed  at  the  end  of  his  journey. 

The  natural  tendency  of  man  is  to  combine  his  axe  with   / 
his  neighbour's  spade  :  lending  one  and  borrowing  the  other. 
Here,  however,  the  man  with  the  axe  flies  from  the  man  who 
has  a  spade. 

The  natural  tendency  of  man  is  to  begin  on  the  thin  soil 
at  the  side  of  the  hill,  and  to  work  down  towards  the  rich 
soil  at  its  foot,  gathering  manure  on  the  one  with  which  to 
enrich  the  other :  but  here  man  flies  from  the  rich  soils  near 
him,  to  seek  the  poor  ones  distant  from  him. 

The  natural  tendency  of  man  is  to  combine  with  his 
neighbours  for  improving  old  roads :  but  here  man  flies  to  a 
distance  that  he  may  employ  his  labour  on  new  ones,  while 
the  old  ones  remain  unimproved  :  and  henceforth  two  are  to 
be  maintained  instead  of  one. 

The  natural  tendency  of  man  is  to  combine  with  his 
neighbours  for  improving  the  character  of  education  in  old 
schools  :  but  here  he  flies  from  his  neighbours  to  places 
where  there  are  no  schools,  and  where  none  can  be  until  he 
shall  build  it  himself. 

The  natural  tendency  of  man  is  to  hold  in  regard  old 
places  and  old  churches,  mellowed  by  time  and  sanctified 
by  the  recollection  of  those  who  had  before  inhabited  them : 
but  here  he  flies  from  them,  to  cut  out  new  places  in  the 
woods,  whose  harshness  and  hardness  are  quintupled  by  the 


THE    FUTURE.  431 

recollection  of  the  places  he  has  left,  occupied  by  the  friends 
of  his  early  years. 

Why  is  this  so?  Why  is  it  that  men  should  fly  from 
western  New  York,  where  railroads  run  through  rich 
lands,  covered  with  dense  forests :  through  swamps  that 
need  drainage  alone  to  give  to  cultivation  the  richest  soils 
in  the  world :  to  seek  the  West,  where  they  must  cultivate 
poor  soils  distant  from  market,  and  yielding  but  ten  bushels 
of  wheat  to  the  acre,  and  that  small  yield,  too,  annually  de- 
creasing* because  of  the  necessity  for  starving  the  great 
machine,  by  wasting  on  the  road  the  manure  yielded  by  the 
horses  or  oxen  employed  in  the  work  of  transportation  : 
while  the  wheat  itself  is  consumed  abroad,  leaving  nothing 
whatever  to  return  to  the  land  ?  Why  is  it  that  throughout 
that  rich  country,  with  its  canals  and  railroads,  its  towns  and 
its  telegraphs,  population  diminishes,  and  land  concentrates 
itself  in  fewer  hands :  always  the  signs  of  diminishing 
wealth  ? 

Why  is  it  that  men  fly  the  fertile  valleys  and  rich  slopes 
of  northern  New  York,  near  neighbours  to  both  the  St.  Law- 
rence and  Lake  Champlain,  where  steamboats  abound :  to 
seek  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior,  there  to  obtain  from  the 
poorer  soils  that  always  must  be  first  cultivated,  a  reward 
of  little  more  than  five  times  the  seed  ?  Why  is  it  that 
rich  meadow-lands  on  the  Schuylkill  remain  unimproved, 
while  men  seek  Oregon  and  California  ?  Why  is  it  that 
vast  forests  still  cover  fine  meadow-lands  on  the  Susque- 
hanna,  capable  of  yielding  crops  whose  tons  would  number 
more  than  the  bushels  obtained  from  the  wheat  lands  of 
Ohio  :  furnishing  manure  in  tons  for  fertilizing  the  poor  soils 
of  the  hills,  on  which  now  stand  farm-houses  in. the  rniiKt 
of  farms  that  have  been  in  cultivation  for  half  a  century  ? 
Why  do  men  seek  Iowa,  to  raise  from  an  acre  thirty  bushels 
of  Indian  corn,  that  before  it  can  reach  market  must  be  con 

*  See  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Patents,  January,  1845,  p.  25. 


432  THE    FUTURE. 

verted  into  pork,  while  the  lower  lands  of  Virginia  and 
Maryland  are  abandoned  :  lands  that  are  nearer  to  the  great 
market  of  Europe,  and  from  which,  by  careful  cultivation, 
a  hundred  bushels  might  be  obtained  ?  Why  is  it  that  men 
fly  from  the  meadow  lands  of  South  Carolina,  leaving  the 
remaining  inhabitants  a  prey  to  fevers  and  malaria  conse- 
quent upon  diminished  population,  to  seek  the  thin  lands  of 
Texas,  at  the  heads  of  the  streams  ;  there  to  raise  small 
crops  to  be  wagoned  over  half-made  roads  down  to  new 
towns,  possessing  no  one  of  the  conveniences  that  tend 
so  greatly  to  diminish  the  friction  between  the  consumer  and 
the  producer  ?  Why  is  it  that  men  are  everywhere  seen 
flying  from  their  fellow  men  :  from  those  destined  by  the 
Deity  to  be  their  helpmates  :  from  parents  and  relations  : 
from  old  houses,  and  old  churches,  and  old  school-houses  ; 
old  comforts,  and  old  feelings  :  and  from  all  the  conve- 
niences and  advantages  that  tend  so  largely  to  promote 
their  happiness  and  their  respectability,  and  to  increase  their 
powers  of  exertion  :  to  seek  in  Texas  and  Iowa,  Oregon 
and  California,  new  homes  and  new  relations,  amidst  woods 
that  they  cannot  fell,  and  swamps  that  they  cannot  drain,  and 
upon  the  poor  soils  that  yield,  invariably,  the  smallest  return 
to  labour  ? 

These  things  would  seem  almost  impossible:  yet  if  we 
turn  to  India,  we  may  see  the  poor  Hindoo  cultivating  the 
poorest  soils,  and  then  labouring,  almost  in  vain,  to  drive 
through  the  rich  black  clay  that  lies  between  him  and  his 
market,  the  half-starved  cattle  that  bear  his  miserable  crop. 
Here  we  have  the  same  state  of  things ;  and  both  here  and 
there  it  may  be  traced  to  the  same  cause :  necessity.  In 
neither  can  men  exercise  power  over  the  rich  soils,  because 
in  neither  have  men  power  over  themselves ;  and  until  they 
shall  have  it,  they  must  continue  to  fly  from  rich  soils 
capable  of  yielding  tons,  by  aid  of  whose  manure  poor  soils 
might  be  enriched,  to  poor  soils  becoming  daily  poorer,  be- 
cause tn  "hem  even  the  manure  yielded  by  their  own  little 


THE    FUTURE.  433 

product  cannot  be  returned.  They  borrow  from  the  earth, 
and  they  do  not  repay :  and  therefore  it  is  that  they  find  an 
empty  exchequer:  performing  thus  the  process  that  farm- 
ers are  enabled  to  avoid,  when,  as  in  England  and  New 
England,  the  consumer  takes  his  place  by  the  side  of  the 
producer.*  Therefore  it  is  that  the  average  produce  of  New 
York  is  but  fourteen  bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre,  while  that 
of  Ohio  is  even  less,  although  acres  may  readily  be  made  to 
yield  forty  or  fifty  bushels :  and  therefore  it  is  that  the  ave- 
rage produce  of  Indian  corn  is  but  twenty-five,  when  it 
should  be  a  hundred  bushels,  and  that  of  potatoes  but  ninety 
when  it  might  be  four  hundred  bushels. 

If  we  desire  to  understand  the  cause  of  these  extraordinary 
facts,  we  may  perhaps  obtain  what  we  want  by  taking  a 
bird's-eye  view  of  a  farm-house  of  western  Pennsylvania,  near 
neighbour  to  the  rich  meadow-land  above  described.  The 
farmer  is  reading  the  newspaper,  anxious  to  know  what  are  the 
crops  of  England,  and  whether  or  not  the  rot  has  destroyed  the 
potato  crop  in  Ireland.  Last  year  many  of  the  people  of  Eu- 
rope starved  :  but  he  sold  his  crop  at  a  good  price,  and  paid 
off  his  debts.  This  year  he  wishes  to  purchase  a  new  wagon, 
and  to  add  to  his  stock  of  horses  :  but,  unhappily  for  him,  the 
farmers  of  England  have  had  a  favourable  season,  and  the 
rot  has  not  appeared  in  Ireland.  Starvation  will  not  sweep 
off  its  thousands,  and  he  will  get  neither  horses  nor  wagon. 

His  eldest  son  is  preparing  to  remove  to  the  west,  to  raise 
wheat  on  dry  lands  in  Wisconsin  or  Iowa,  and  to  send  to 
the  already  overstocked  markets  increased  supplies  of  food. 
His  daughter  is  grieving  for  the  approaching  loss  of  her 
brother ;  and  of  her  sweetheart,  the  son  of  the  neighbour- 
ing wool-grower,  who  is  about  to  leave  for  Michigan  to  raise 
wool,  that  he  may  compete  with  his  father  who  is  studying 
carefully  the  newspapers  hoping  to  see  that  the  sheep  of  Aus- 

*  For  the  remarkable  results  produced  by  the  proper  application  of 
manures,  we  would  refer  the  reader  to  the  account  of  a  meeting  at  Dray  ton 
Manor,  the  residence  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  in  Skinner's  Farmer's  Library. 

31  37 


434  THE   FUTURE. 

tralia  have  rotted  off  and  thus  diminished  the  supply  of  wool. 
He  wants  to  pay  off  his  debts :  but  this  he  cannot  do,  unless 
the  price  of  wool  should  rise,  and  thus  increase  the  difficulty 
of  obtaining  clothing.  Why  do  these  sons  move  off?  It  is 
because  there  is  no  demand  for  labour.  All  the  land  is  held 
in  large  farms  because  the  poor  soils  alone  are  cultivated  ; 
and  farmers  that  would  live  at  all  must  farm  and  fence  in  a 
great  deal  of  land,  where  a  dozen  bushels  to  the  acre  are  con- 
sidered a  good  crop.  Why  does  he  not  clear  some  of  the 
meadow-land  ?  It  is  because  there  is  no  demand  for  milk, 
or  for  fresh  meat :  for  hay,  or  turnips,  or  potatoes  :  or  for  any 
of  those  things  of  which  the  earth  yields  largely,  and  which 
from  their  bulk  will  not  bear  carriage.  He  knows  that 
when  the  great  machine  yields  by  tons  the  product  is  worth 
little  unless  there  be  mouths  on  the  spot  to  eat,  but  that  when 
he  restricts  it  to  bushels  the  product  may  be  transported  to 
the  mouths.  There  is  no  demand  for  timber;  for  all  the 
young  men  fly  to  the  west,  and  new  houses  are  not  needed. 
The  timber  is  valueless ;  and  the  land  is  not  worth  clearing 
to  raise  wheat,  almost  the  only  product  of  the  earth  that  will 
bear  carriage.  To  clear  an  acre  would  cost  as  much  as 
would  buy  a  dozen  in  Iowa  ;  and  the  product  of  four  acres, 
at  ten  bushels  each,  would  be  equal  to  one  of  forty.  He 
therefore  goes  to  the  west  to  raise  more  wheat ;  and  his  friend 
goes  to  raise  more  wool ;  and  his  sister  remains  at  home 
unmarried.  Why  does  she  not  marry,  and  accompany  her 
lover  ?  It  is  because  she  has  found  no  demand  for  her  labour, 
and  has  earned  no  wages  to  enable  her  to  contribute  to  the 
expense  of  furnishing  the  house. 

Here,  then,  we  have  labour,  male  and  female,  superabun- 
dant for  want  of  wages  with  which  to  buy  food,  and  clothing, 
and  houses  :  food  superabundant,  for  want  of  mouths  to  eat  it: 
clothing  material  superabundant,  for  want  of  people  to  wear 
it :  timber  superabundant,  for  want  of  people  desiring  to 
build  houses :  fertile  land  superabundant,  for  want  of  people 
to  drink  milk  and  eat  butter  and  veal :  and  poor  land  super- 


THE    FUTURE.  435 

abundant,  for  want  of  the  manure  that  has  for  ages  accumu- 
lated in  the  river  bottom  ;  while  the  men  who  might  eat  the 
veal  and  drink  the  milk  produced  on  rich  lands,  are  flying 
to  the  west  to  waste  their  labour  on  poor  ones :  those  who 
should  be  consumers  of  food  becoming  producers  of  food. 

Why  is  this  ?  It  is  because  they  want  a  market  at  which 
the  labour,  male  and  female:,  the  food  and  the  wool:  can 
be  exchanged  for  each  other.  They  want  a  woollens  mill, 
and  had  they  this,  the  sons  would  stay  at  home  and  eat 
food,  instead  of  going  abroad  to  produce  more.  The 
daughters  would  marry,  and  would  want  houses.  The 
timber  would  be  cleared,  and  the  fertile  lands  would  be 
cultivated.  The  manure  would  be  made,  and  the  poor 
lands  would  be  made  rich.  The  milk  would  be  drunk,  and 
the  veal  would  be  eaten,  and  the  swamps  would  be  drained 
to  make  meadows.  The  saw- mill  would  come,  and  the 
sawyer  would  eat  corn.  The  blacksmith,  the  tailor,  the 
hatter,  and  the  printer  would  come,  and  all  would  eat  corn. 
The  town  would  grow  up,  and  acres  would  become  lots.  The 
farms  would  be  divided,  and  the  fencing  of  each  diminished. 
The  railroad  would  be  made,  and  the  coal  and  iron  would 
come  :  and  with  each  step  in  this  progress,  the  farmer  would 
obtain  a  better  price  for  his  corn  and  his  wool,  enabling  him 
from  year  to  year  to  appropriate  more  and  more  labour  to  the 
development  of  the  vast  treasures  of  the  earth  ;  to  building 
up  the  great  machine,  whose  value  would  increase  in  the 
precise  ratio  of  the  increase  in  the  return  to  his  labour.  The 
more  he  could  take  out  of  it,  the  more  it  would  be  worth. 

The  good  people  of  this  neighbourhood  now  use  bad 
machinery  of  exchange.  They  send  to  market  annually  five 
thousand  tons  of  food  and  wool :  a  fourth  of  which  is 
absorbed  by  the  horses,  and  men,  and  machines,  required 
for  its  transportation  and  exchange ;  and  thus  they  pay 
annually  as  much  as  would  be  required  for  the  erection  of  a 
place  of  home  exchange.  The  amount  thus  spent  is  lost 
for  ever.  The  following  year  the  same  expenditure  is 


436  THE  FUTURE. 

needed  :  and  the  next,  and  every  succeeding  one.  The 
same  labour  once  applied  at  home,  would  stand ;  and  in  the 
following  year  the  wagons,  and  horses,  and  men  would  be  at 
work  upon  the  farms,  clearing  richer  lands,  and  carrying 
manure  to  the  old  ones  ;  and  with  every  year  new  combina- 
tions would  arise  :  new  and  better  lands  would  be  cleared : 
new  houses  would  be  needed  :  new  demands  for  timber 
would  arise  :  new  marriages  would  take  place  :  new  children 
would  be  born  :  and  with  each  step  in  the  progress  of  popu- 
lation and  wealth,  men  would  become  richer  and  happier : 
and  land  would  be  more  divided  :  and  farms  would  be  bet- 
ter cultivated :  and  schoolmasters  and  preachers  would  be 
better :  and  man  would  acquire  more  power  over  land  and 
over  himself. 

Let  us  now  take  a  similar  view  of  one  of  our  planting 
friends  in  the  south.  His  cotton  is  half  picked,  but  early 
frost  has  come  and  killed  the  rest.  Why  is  this  ?  He  had 
not  hands  to  pick  it.  Why  had  he  not  ?  Because  throughout 
the  year  there  is  no  demand  for  labour.  His  best  lands  are 
uncleared,  because  there  is  no  demand  for  lumber.  His 
meadow  lands  are  undrained,  because  there  is  no  demand 
for  milk  or  veal.  He  raises  bushels  of  corn,  when  he  might 
have  tons  of  turnips  or  potatoes.  He,  too,  wants  a  market- 
house.  His  neighbour  is  going  west  to  the  light  soils 
of  Texas,  leaving  the  rich  soils  untouched.  He  is  going  to 
raise  more  cotton.  If  he  stayed,  he  might  be  a  consumer  of 
corn,  and  cotton,  and  milk,  and  veal,  and  beef. 

If  we  now  ask  the  worthy  planter  why  he  does  not  clear 
the  rich  land  close  to  the  poorer  soil  that  he  now  cultivates, 
his  .answer  will  be,  that  he  has  offered  twenty  dollars  an 
acre  for  clearing  it,  and  destroying  the  timber,  but  in  vain  : 
nobody  will  undertake  it.  Nobody  wants  timber.  There 
are  no  houses  wanted,  for  his  neighbours  are  flying  to  poorer 
and  more  distant  soils.  There  are  no  railroad  sills  needed, 
for  the  production  of  the  neighbourhood  diminishes,  and 
men  will  not  make  roads  when  such  is  the  case.  If  we  look 


THE    FUTURE.  437 

in  upon  him  at  his  hours  of  leisure,  we  shall  find  him  intern 
upon  the  last  news  from  England  :  desiring  to  know  how 
many  mills  are  closed :  how  many  are  working  half  time  : 
how  many  operatives  have  been  discharged  to  starve :  and 
wondering  within  himself  if  a  time  will  ever  arrive  when  it 
will  be  possible  to  calculate  upon  a  continuance  of  the  same 
state  of  things  in  that  country  during  any  single  half  year. 
If  wTe  look  in  upon  him  when  meeting  with  his  neighbour 
planters,  we  shall  find  them  discussing  the  expediency  of 
restricting  the  culture  of  cotton  ;  or  of  holding  conventions  for 
the  purpose  of  determining  how  much  shall  be  grown,  with 
a  view  to  acquire  some  power  over  their  own  actions,  and  thus 
to  diminish  their  necessities — but  all  in  vain.  Each  succes- 
sive arrival  brings  with  it  the  news  of  a  further  reduction  in 
prices,  yet  no  means  can  be  devised  to  bring  the  supply 
down  to.  the  demand  :  and  yet  his  neighbour  goes  to  Texas 
to  raise  more  cotton. 

He  and  his  neighbours  send  annually  to  market  four  thou- 
sand bales,  of  which  a  fourth  is  swallowed  up  by  the  men 
and  horses  and  machines  employed  in  the  business  of  trans- 
portation and  exchange.  A  thousand  bales  would  build  a 
market-house  for  labour,  and  corn,  and  cotton :  and  the  newr 
machinery  of  exchange  would  stand.  Thenceforward,  the 
produce  of  hundreds  of  these  bales  would  go  upon  the  land, 
and  newer  and  better  soils  would  be  cleared  :  and  labour 
would  become  more  valuable  :  and  wages  would  rise  :  and 
men  would  marry,  and  houses  would  be  needed,  and  chil- 
dren would  be  born  :  and  land  would  become  divided  :  and 
the  planter  would  in  time  become  the  landlord  of  happy 
tenants,  cultivating  their  own  little  farms  for  their  own  ad- 
vantage :  and  slaves  would  become  free,  while  their  masters 
would  become  rich. 

If  we  desire  to  see  this  process  in  full  operation,  we  must 
turn  our  eyes  towards  New  England.  The  best  soils  are 
there  cultivated,  because  there  is  a  market  on  the  spot  for 
those  productions  which  our  great  mother  earth  supplies  in 

37* 


438  THE   FUTURE. 

such  profusion  that  they  will  not  bear  carriage.  The  Yankee 
can  take  tons  from  the  land,  and  he  can  return  tons  of 
manure  back  to  it,  because  he  uses  the  best  machinery  of 
exchange.  He  concentrates  his  population  by  tens  of  thou- 
sands upon  the  poor  soils  of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode 
Island,  and  there  he  consumes  the  corn  raised  by  the  people 
of  the  west,  and  places  on  his  own  thin  soil  the  manure 
that  they  lose.  His  soils  double  in  productive  power,  while 
theirs  fall  off.  He  becomes  rich  and  richer  every  day,  by  con- 
centration. They  remain  poor,  and  then  they  scatter  them- 
selves over  new  thin  soils,  to  repeat  in  Iowa  and  Oregon 
die  process  of  exhaustion  already  so  well  commenced  in  New 
York,  Virginia,  and  Ohio. 

If  we  desire  to  see  it  elsewhere,  we  must  turn  to  Eastern 
Pennsylvania.  Population  is  there  concentrating  itself  in  the 
coal  and  iron  regions :  and  what  is  the  result  ?  She  has 
ceased  to  be  a  corn-exporting  State.  Her  miners  now  eat 
the  wheat  of  Michigan  and  Iowa.  Her  farmers  are  now 
clearing  richer  land.  Houses  are  needed,  and  mirie-props 
are  needed :  and  railroad  sills  are  needed :  and  boat 
timber  is  needed :  and  in  every  spot,  for  fifty  miles  around 
the  coal  region,  the  farmers  are  felling  their  trees,  which 
yield  them  the  means  of  draining  their  meadows,  while  the 
demand  for  milk,  and  beef,  and  veal,  and  potatoes,  and  tur- 
nips, and  all  those  vegetable  products  that  the  earth  yields 
in  greatest  abundance,  enables  them  to  grow  rich  themselves 
and  to  make  their  poor  soils  rich.  She  has  ceased  to  be  a 
rival  to  Ohio  or  Wisconsin  ift  the  market  of  the  world,  and 
therefore  their  products  are  more  valuable ;  and  with  the  in- 
creased value  of  their  productions  the  planter  of  Mississippi 
and  Alabama  is  enabled  advantageously  to  devote  more  of 
his  land  to  raising  food,  and  less  to  raising  cotton,  the 
effect  of  which  is  found  in  the  increased  price  of  the  latter. 
Were  the  mines  to  be  discontinued :  were  the  furnaces  to  be 
abandoned :  her  people  would  scatter  over  the  west,  to  be- 
come producers  of  food  instead  of  consumers,  and  then  more 


THE    FUTURE.  439 

planters  would  raise  cotton,  and  fewer  would  raise  food  : 
the  result  of  which  would  be  seen  in  the  fall  in  the  price  of 
cotton. 

Such  is  the  effect  of  a  trade  of  six  millions  of  dollars,  the 
establishment  of  which  has  required  fifty  millions  of  dollars. 
A  million  and  a  half  more  would  put  up  fifty  furnaces,  capa- 
ble of  producing  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  tons  of 
iron,  the  producers  of  which  would  eat  as  much  food, 
occupy  as  many  houses,  and  wear  as  much  cloth,  as  those 
who  have  been  set  in  motion  by  the  fifty  millions  already 
expended.  In  the  fashioning  of  the  great  machine,  it  is  the 
first  step  that  costs,  and  each  is  but  preparatory  to  a  new 
and  greater  one. 

Three  millions  more  would  erect  rolling-mills  to  convert  all 
this  iron  into  bars,  and  thus  to  produce  a  demand  upon  the 
farmer  and  the  planter  as  great  as  is  now  produced  by  the 
fifty  millions. 

Ten  millions  would  build  a  hundred  great  cotton  factories, 
furnishing  a  market  for  two  hundred  thousand  bales  of  cot- 
ton, and  five  millions  of  dollars1  worth  of  corn  and  clothing. 

The  people  who  made  the  machinery  and  built  the  houses, 
would  be  consumers  of  corn  and  cotton,  and  not  producers 
of  either.  They  would  want  houses  at  home,  instead  of 
houses  in  Texas  or  Iowa.  The  demand  for  houses  would 
make  a  market  for  timber.  The  demand  for  timber  would 
clear  the  rich  soils  with  profit  to  their  owner,  who  would  sell 
his  trees  instead  of  paying  men  for  killing  them.  He  would 
produce  more  food,  and  more  people  would  come  to  eat  it, 
and  they  would  want  more  clothes,  and  more  mills  would 
be  needed,  and  more  stone,  and  timber,  and  lime,  and  clay, 
would  be  required  :  and  with  each  step  he  would  be  improv- 
ing the  great  machine,  \vhile  concentration  would  afford  him 
means  of  improving  his  mind  and  his  tastes,  and  of  edu- 
cating his  children. 

Six  millions  would  build  two  hundred  woollen  factories, 
that  would  use  thirty  millions  of  pounds  of  wool  in  a  year ; 


440  THE    FUTURE. 

and  distribute  among  farmers,  workmen,  and  workwomen, 
twenty  millions  of  dollars  in  a  year,  to  be  applied  to  the 
purchase  of  food,  by  which  the  farmer  would  be  enabled 
to  improve  his  better  lands :  of  wool,  by  means  of  which 
he  would  be  enabled  to  improve  his  breed,  and  increase 
his  product :  of  timber,  by  aid  of  which  he  would  be  en- 
abled to  clear  his  land  :  and  of  stone,  by  aid  of  which  he 
would  be  enabled  to  bring  his  quarries  into  use :  while  the  con- 
stantly increasing  circulation  of  man  and  of  machinery,  and 
of  their  products,  would  offer  large  inducements  to  improve 
the  roads  by  which  he  could  transport  to  market  the  surplus, 
for  which  he  would  obtain  better  prices  ;  because  population 
would  increase  far  more  rapidly  than  at  present,  and  all 
would  stay  at  home  instead  of  seeking  the  wilds  of  the  west : 
and  the  increased  demand  for  labour  throughout  the  country 
would  enable  all  to  consume  more  :  and  thus  his  powers 
when  at  market  would  increase  as  his  necessity  for  seeking 
that  market  decreased. 

But  is  this  all  ?  It  is  not.  The  future  annual  saving  of 
the  machinery  of  exchange  would  go  again  upon  the  land, 
and  more  would  be  raised,  and  wages  would  be  greater,  and 
the  demand  for  houses  and  machinery  would  make  a  market 
for  the  labour  of  thousands,  all  of  whom  would  themselves 
want  houses,  and  all  would  consume  more  food  and  clothing 
than  now  : — and  the  quantity  to  be  sent  into  the  great  market 
of  the  world  would  be  diminished,  and  prices  would  rise.  The 
farmer  and  planter  would  double  their  crops,  while  the  ma 
chinery  of  transportation  would  itself  improve,  and  the  loss  in 
exchanging  would  diminish:  and  all  would  grow  rich,  and  all 
would  acquire  more  power  over  land,  and  over  themselves : 
while  their  land  would  improve  hourly  in  value.  Their  necessi- 
ties would  diminish,  and  their  power  would  increase,  and  as 
they  made  their  own  iron  and  cloth,  and  ate  their  own  food, 
they  would  want  more  silks,  and  books,  and  newspapers,  and 
pictures,  and  statues :  and  intellectual  power  would  grow 


THE   FUTURE.  441 

with  physical  and  moral  power,  and  thus  would  improve- 
ment keep  pace  with  freedom. 

Why  is  not  all  this  done?  Let  us  ask  the  farmer.  He 
will  tell  us  that  cloth  is  sometimes  high  and  sometimes  low: 
that  the  woollen  manufacturers  have  invariably  been  ruined 
by  the  perpetual  fluctuations  of  England.  Again,  he  will 
say  that  if  he  and  his  neighbour  farmers  desired  to  associate 
for  the  purpose  of  building  a  mill,  they  would  have  to  be 
bound,  each  for  all :  and  that  they  cannot  get  a  charter,  as 
there  is  no  general  law  for  that  purpose,  and  the  power  freely 
to  associate  has  no  existence. 

Ask  the  planter.  He  will  tell  us  that  the  cotton  manu- 
facturers have  been  ruined  over  and  over  again :  that  cotton 
goods  are  sometimes  high  and  sometimes  low  :  that  last  year 
they  were  high,  and  that  now  England  is  forcing  them  into 
every  market  of  the  world  :*  that  he  has  no  charter,  and  that 
without  this  he  and  his  fellow  planters  cannot  associate  ; 
whereas  if  they  had  a  general  law  for  the  purpose,  every 
man  in  the  neighbourhood  would  subscribe  a  little,  and  that 
they  might  make  an  effort  at  concentration. 

*  Of  175  mills  in  Manchester,  there  were  working  full  time,  September 

28,  1847,  only 130 

At  the  close  of  the  following  week,  the  number  had  diminished  to      -     125 
In  the  first  week  the  number  altogether  stopped  was  -  22 

In  the  second,  it  was  --------          -24 

In  the  first,  the  number  working  short  time,  was  ...  23 

In  the  second,  it  was  ----...          -26 

The  average  number  of  hours  was  in  the  first  but       -         -         -  7^ 

In  the  second  it  was  reduced  to------          •         7^ 

In  both,  the  number  of  persons  working  short  time  was  about      -         8000 
In  the  first,  the  number  altogether  unemployed,  was         -        -  7654 

In  the  second,  it  had  increased  to 8736 

October  19,  the  number  working  short  time  had  risen  to  12,198,  and  those 
altogether  unemployed  to  10,341.  The  number  unemployed  in  Lancashire  is 
said  to  exceed  50,000. 

But  a  little  while  since,  all  were  employed,  and  the  labourers  demanded  a 
limitation  of  the  hours  of  labour.  Now,  the  employers  reduce  the  hours, 
and  the  labourers  suffer  for  want  of  employment.  These  changes  occur  in  a 
time  of  perfect  peace,  and  are  produced  by  cua..ges  of  policy  over  which 
foreign  nations  have  no  control.  They  are  destructive  of  the  happiness,  and 
comfort,  and  respectability,  of  the  people  of  England,  as  they  are  of  those 
of  all  her  unfortunate  subjects. 

3K 


442  THE    FUTURE. 

Ask  the  farmer  of  Pennsylvania  why  he  does  not  associate 
\vith  his  neighbours  to  erect  a  furnace,  and  his  answer  will 
be  that  three  years  since  all  the  iron-masters  were  nearly 
ruined:  that  iron  is  now  £10  per  ton,  but  that  before  a 
furnace  could  be  built  it  would  be  down  to  <£5,  and  their 
capital  would  be  sunk.  He,  too,  would  say  that  charters 
were  needed,  and  that  charters  could  not  be  obtained. 

Here  lies  the  secret  of  dispersion.  Here  is  to  be  found 
the  cause  of  the  impossibility  of  concentration.  The  people 
of  the  United  States  have  no  power  over  their  own  actions. 
They  waste  annually  more  labour  in  hauling  their  products 
to  market,  and  their  consumers  from  market,  to  the  west,  there 
to  be  employed  in  raising  more  food  and  cotton,  than  would 
build  markets  for  themselves.  They  waste  on  the  roads 
the  manure  yielded  by  the  products  of  poor  soils,  and  they 
leave  on  the  rich  ones  the  manure  that  has  accumulated  for 
ages,  and  that  would  render  their  poor  ones  rich;  and  while 
they  shall  continue  so  to  do,  they  must  scatter  themselves 
over  the  far  west :  they  must  leave  home,  and  friends,  and 
school-houses,  behind  :  they  must  continue  to  be  hewers  of 
wood  and  drawers  of  water  on  the  poor  soils,  instead  of  becom 
ing  rich  on  the  fertile  ones :  they  must  continue  to  obtain 
bushels  where  they  might  have  tons :  they  must  continue  to 
do  as  do  the  people  of  India : — cultivate  poor  soils  and  find 
themselves  bogged  in  the  rich  ones,  through  which  they 
have  to  drag  their  products  to  market. 

The  annual  loss  to  the  people  of  the  Union  from  the  want 
of  the  power  to  concentrate  themselves  on  the  rich  soils,  is  far 
more  than  the  value  of  the  whole  exports  of  England  to  all 
parts  of  the  world,  and,  were  she  to  give  them  the  whole, 
the  gift  would  be  injurious.  It  would  tend  only  to  scatter 
the  people  more  widely,  for  concentration  would  then  be 
impossible,  and  without  that  the  earth  cannot  be  made  to 
yield :  and  unless  it  be  made  to  do  so,  the  poor  soils  cannot 
be  made  rich.  Population  makes  the  food  come  from  the  rich 
soils,  while  depopulation  forces  men  back  to  the  poor  ones. 


THE   FUTURE.  443 

The  number  of  States  employed  in  producing  cotton  is  ten. 
The  whole  product  is  about  two  millions  of  bales,  and  the 
average  is  therefore  about  two  hundred  thousand  bales  per 
State.  To  prepare  a  State  for  producing  that  quantity,  and 
the  food  that  is  to  be  consumed  by  the  men  who  raise  it,  has 
cost  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars.  To  place  in  that  State 
machinery  requisite  for  its  conversion  into  cloth  would  cost 
ten  millions  of  dollars,  or  less  than  the  amount  annually 
wasted:  of  labour  for  want  of  employment  at  home:  of  la- 
bour and  manure  in  transporting  the  product  to  market :  of 
labour  and  manure  in  transporting  men  to  new  lands:  of  crop 
from  the  want  of  hands  to  pick  it :  of  freights,  because  of  the 
increased  demand  for  ships  and  wagons  :  and  of  prices,  be- 
cause of  the  surplus  in  the  markets  of  the  world  :  and  less 
than  half  the  amount  annually  wasted,  because  of  the  neces- 
sity for  cultivating  poor  soils  while  rich  ones  lie  idle. 

The  cost  of  transporting  the  hides  and  the  food  to  the 
shoemaker,  his  awl  and  his  lapstone,  is  great,  and  all  the 
manure  is  lost,  and  lost  for  ever.  The  cost  of  bringing  the 
awl  and  the  lapstone  to  the  hides  and  the  food  is  small,  and 
all  the  manure  is  saved:  and  the  great  machine  is  improved, be- 
cause the  manure  is  saved  and  the  shoemaker  wants  a  house  ; 
and  the  house  wants  timber  and  stone,  by  the  furnishing  of 
which  the  land  is  cleared.  A  large  portion  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States  are  busily  employed  in  carrying  the  hides 
and  the  food  to  the  awl  and  the  lapstone,  and  in  driving  peo- 
ple who  might  use  the  awl  to  other  places  where  they  must 
raise  more  hides  and  food. 

What  is  the  remedy  for  this  state  of  things  ?  The  answer 
is  easy  :  England  must  be  made  to  raise  her  own  food,  and 
she  must  be  made  to  let  other  nations  consume  theirs.  The 
resistance  of  the  United  States  put  an  end  to  the  navigation 
laws.  Their  resistance  killed  the  right  of  search.  Their 
resistance  killed  the  corn  laws.  Their  resistance  will  kill 
the  colonial  system,  and  give  freedom  to  India  and  Ireland, 
to  the  people  of  England,  and  to  themselves. 


444  THE    FUTURE. 

To  their  resistance  is  due  the  fact  that  England  has  already 
turned  her  attention,  in  some  degree,  homeward  ;  but  the 
work  is  not  half  done.  To  make  a  short  war,  it  must  be  a 
strong  one.  No  set  of  men  can  now  feel  any  confidence  in 
erecting  iron-works,  cotton-mills,  or  woollen-mills  ;  and  un- 
til all  shall  feel  full  confidence,  the  little  capitalists  cannot 
get  to  work,  and  the  business  must  remain  in  the  hands  of 
great  ones,  who  can  run  great  risks  :  and  while  that  shall  be 
the  case,  but  little  will  be  done.  Almost  all  that  exists  in 
the  Union  is  the  work  of  the  millions  of  little  men  engaged 
in  improving  the  great  machine,  and  when  they,  the  little 
farmers,  and  little  mechanics,  and  little  shopkeepers,  shall 
get  to  work,  the  production  of  iron,  and  of  cotton  and  wool- 
len cloth, will  go  ahead  as  rapidly  as  farming  has  done,  and 
then  concentration  will  take  place,  and  the  rich  soils  will 
come  into  cultivation,  and  every  county  in  the  Union  will 
have  its  iron,  or  its  cotton,  or  its  woollens  exchange,  and 
then  land  will  double  in  product  and  in  value.  There 
is  not  one  county  that  could  not  supply  the  stone,  the 
timber,  and  the  labour  necessary  for  building  a  furnace  or 
a  mill,  and  the  money  necessary  for  the  purchase  of  ma- 
chinery :  thus  making  a  place  of  home  exchange.  Once 
built,  further  capital  is  not  needed.  The  grower  of  corn, 
and  hay,  and  oats,  and  wool,  and  the  young  men  and  young 
women  who  have  labour  to  sell,  perform  their  exchanges  at 
the  factory,  which  becomes  a  little  bank  in  which  each  man 
buys  a  share  while  accumulating  means  to  build  a  house  or 
buy  a  farm,  selling  it  again  when  the  house  is  built  or  the  farm 
is  bought.  Throughout  the  Union,  south  of  the  Hudson, 
there  is  scarcely  a  single  county  in  which  there  is  not  more 
capital  unemployed  than  would  build  such  a  place  of  ex- 
change :  and  scarcely  one  in  which,  for  want  of  such  a  place, 
there  are  not  more  people  idle  than  would  suffice  to  carry  it 
on.  Were  each  county  to  help  itself,  all  would  be  helped. 

Wealth  is  power.  The  people  of  the  United  States  have 
the  wealth.  That  wealth  has  given  them  power,  dispersed 


THE    FUTURE.  445 

as  they  were,  to  do  much.  Concentration  will  give  them 
greater  wealth,  and  greater  power.  Their  twenty-one  mil- 
Jions  produce  at  this  moment  a  greater  quantity  of  commodi- 
ties than  the  people  of  England,  while  they  build  twice  as 
many  houses  ;  make  twice  as  many  roads  ;  apply  thrice  the 
..abour  to  the  improvement  of  land  ;  build  four  times  as  many 
school-houses  and  churches ;  and  print  ten  times  as  many 
newspapers.  The  machinery  of  production  is  greater  than 
that  of  England,  and  all  they  now  want  is  better  machinery 
of  exchange.  Let  the  farmers  and  planters  have  this  and 
population  will  increase  with  greater  rapidity  than  ever,  for 
young  men  will  stay  at  home  and  marry  instead  of  going  to 
the  west ;  and  tens  of  thousands  of  mechanics,  and  of  coal 
and  iron  miners,  will  seek  the  United  States  ;  while  labourers 
will  come  by  hundreds  of  thousands,  and  every  man  will  fur- 
nish a  mouth  to  be  fed,  instead  of,  as  now,  furnishing  hands 
to  produce  food.  They  will  then  be  consumers  of  corn,  and 
wool,  and  cotton,  instead  of  producers  :  customers  instead  of 
rivals.  Corn  and  cotton  will  be  produced  at  less  cost  of 
abour,  and  wages  in  corn  and  cotton  will  be  higher: 
while  cloth  and  iron  will  be  cheaper,  and  the  farmer  will 
cease  to  have  to  pray  for  bad  crops  in  Europe :  while  the 
planter  will  find  in  the  increased  demand  for  his  product 
consequent  upon  the  higher  wages  of  England,  and  of  Europe, 
a  certainty  of  a  good  market  for  all  he  has  to  spare.  Coffee, 
and  tea,  and  sugar,  will  then  be  paid  for  in  cotton  cloths, 
and  the  men  who  make  the  cloth  will  be  customers  to  himself 
and  to  his  brother  agriculturists  of  the  north,  who  will  use 
more  cotton  than  at  present;  while  Brazil  and  Cuba  will  want 
more  cloths,  because  they  will  have  a  better  market  for  their 
sugar.  Every  diminution  in  the  machinery  of  exchange  tends 
to  give  more  time  for  improving  the  great  machine  of  produc- 
tion, whether  for  cotton  or  sugar,  wheat,  rye,  oats  or  hemp  : 
to  increase  the  quantity  produced  :  to  increase  the  wages  of 
the  labourer  and  the  profits  of  the  capitalist,  landed  or  mo- 
neyed :  and  to  increase  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  all. 
38 


446  THE    FUTURE. 

Let  but  the  people  of  the  United  States  set  the  example  of 
a  determined  resistance  to  the  system,  and  it  will  be  followed 
by  all  Europe.  French  artisans  will  then  seek  America  and 
Germany,  and  France  too  will  have  to  raise  her  own  food. 
Her  swords  will  be  changed  for  ploughshares,  and  her  forests 
will  disappear,  while  her  coal  mines  will  be  opened.  She, 
too,  will  learn  the  art  of  concentration,  and  with  each  step  of 
her  progress,  the  few  will  become  less  and  the  many  greater. 
The  people  of  the  United  States  owe  this  to  themselves,  and 
to  the  world.  They  enjoy  a  higher  degree  of  happiness  than 
has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  other  nation,  and  they  should  de- 
sire to  aid  their  fellow  men  in  England,  in  Ireland,  in  Ger- 
many and  in  India,  and  by  helping  themselves  they  will  help 
them.  As  colonies,  India  and  Ireland  will  remain  poor. 
As  independent  nations,  they  will  become  rich,  for  they  too 
will  insist 'on  the  right  of  placing  the  consumer  by  the  side 
of  the  producer. 

Westward,  the  star  of  empire  wends  its  way.  From  the 
west  to  the  east  civilization  has  gone,  and  so  it  has  yet  to  go  : 
from  the  base  of  the  Alleghenies  to  the  foot  of  the  Himalaya. 
The  measure  is  one  of  peaceful  and  quiet,  but  determined, 
and  it  should  be  of  united,  action.  It  is  one  that  interests 

Every  man  that  wishes  to  cultivate  rich  lands  instead  of 
poor  ones : 

Every  man    that  would  raise  tons  instead  of  bushels : 
Every  father  that  would  wish  to  see  his  sons,  and  his  sons' 
sons  settle  round  him  : 

Every  ra other  that  wishes  to  see  her  daughters  married : 
Every  son  that  would  have  a  wife  and  a  home  of  his  own : 
Every  daughter  that  would  have  a  husband  : 
Every  journeyman  that  would  be  an  employer  : 
Every  labourer  that  would  have  a  farm  and  house,  or  shop, 
of  his  own : 

Every  property-holder  that  desires  higher  rents: 
Every  man  that  hates  crime  and  loves  virtue : 
Every  man  that  loves  literature  and  art : 


THE    FUTURE.  447 

Every  man  that  loves  freedom : 

Every  man  that  loves  the  people  of  Englanu  :  or  of  France : 

Every  man  that  loves  Ireland  : 

Every  man  that  feels  for  India : 

Every  man  that  loves  his  old  fatherland,  Germany : 

Every  man  that  loves  free  trade : 

Every  man  that  loves  peace : 

Every  man  that  loves  his  fellow  man  : 

Every  man  that  loves  his  Creator : 

Every  man  that  desires  that  the  great  law  of  Christ,  «  Do 
unto  others  as  ye  would  that  others  should  do  unto  you," 
should  become  universally  operative. 

It  is  the  great  work  reserved  for  the  people  of  these  United 
States,  and  they  have  the  power  to  accomplish  it.  It  should 
be  entered  upon  with  the  same  feeling  that  animated  the  Pu- 
ritans of  old :  the  same  that  gave  confidence  to  the  men 
who,  seventy  years  since,  signed  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. It  should  be  preceded  by  a  return  to  peace  with 
an  unfortunate  neighbour,  towards  whom  they  now  occupy 
the  position  of  a  strong  man  pummeling  a  weak  one  already 
on  his  back,  to  make  him  cry  enough.  That  war  has  already 
cost  more  than  would  have  given  to  every  county  in  the 
Union  a  place  for  exchanging  labour,  corn,  and  cotton,  or 
wool,  or  iron  ore,  for  cotton  or  woollen  cloth,  or  iron :  and  if 
it  continue  another  year,  it  will  cost  at  least  as  much  more. 
They  have  too  much  land  already.  They  want  but  concen- 
tration to  enable  them  to  become  both  rich  and  strong. 

For  two  centuries  past,  the  world  has  been  perpetually  dis- 
turbed by  the  wars  of  England  and  France,  for  ships,  colonies, 
and  commerce.  Had  France  had  no  colonies,  there  would, 
probably,  have  been  no  wars  of  the  French  Revolution  after 
the  failure  of  the  invasion  of  1792.  But  for  them,  France  would 
have  been  permitted  quietly  to  settle  down,  in  which  case 
Italy  and  Spain,  Holland,  Germany,  and  Russia  would  have 
escaped  the  war  of  twenty  years,  and  France  might  now  be 
rich,  powerful,  and  free.  The  system  of  both  nations  is  one 


448  THE    FUTURE. 

of  perpetual  interference.  At  one  time,  Poland  is  to  be  ex- 
cited :  at  another,  she  is  to  be  abandoned.  At  one  time, 
Greece  is  to  be  aided :  at  another,  Syria  is  to  be  delivered  over 
to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  Egyptian  pasha  :  at  a  third,  China 
is  to  be  made  to  buy  opium,  and  to  open  her  ports  to  the 
cloths  of  the  men  who  have  ruined  the  poor  fashioners  of  India. 
At  one  moment,  the  affairs  of  Spain  require  the  interposition 
of  England  :  at  the  next,'  we  see  her  fleets  in  Portugal,  dictat- 
ing terms  to  people  driven  by  oppression  to  revolt.  At  another, 
France  governs  Spain,  and  the  country  is  made  a  scene  of 
murderous  war,  while  the  court  is  one  of  endless  intrigue, 
having  for  its  object  the  promotion  of  the  interests — not  of 
France,  but — of  the  family  of  Louis  Philippe  :  all  anxious,  as 
French  princes  have  at  all  times  been,  for  appanages  at  home, 
and  thrones  abroad.  For  centuries  has  the  European  world 
been  agitated  by  the  princes  of  the  houses  of  Valois  and 
Bourbon,  and  those  of  the  house  of  Orleans  are  well  dis- 
posed to  follow  their  example.  For  two  years  past  has  all 
commerce  with  the  La  Plata  been  interdicted,  because  Eng- 
land and  France  chose  to  interfere  in  affairs  that  were  not 
their  own.  They  have  failed,  and  the  country  is  worse  by 
two  years  of  war  and  poverty.  Three  years  since,  the  affairs 
of  Texas  claimed  their  attention.  Now  Switzerland  is  me- 
naced, while  Italy,  fearing  France,  looks  to  England.  But 
a  short  time  since,  the  people  of  the  United  States  were  to 
be  compelled  to  join  in  a  crusade  against  the  slave  trade ; 
which  would  soon  cease  to  exist,  were  England  and  France 
to  permit  the  world  to  remain  at  peace.  At  every  difference 
of  opinion  as  to  rights,  they  are  menaced  with  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  towns  and  cities,  and  the  seizure  of  their  ships. 
At  every  quarrel,  whether  to  maintain  the  trade  in  opium,  or 
to  put  down  that  in  slaves,  their  trade  is  interrupted.  The 
two  nations  are  everywhere  seen  meddling  with  everybody's 
business,  and  neglecting  their  own. 

They  are  the  great  bullies  of  the  world.     Italy  would  now 
be  strong  to  help  herself,  but  for  the  wars  of  France  and 


THE   FUTURE.  449 

England.,    So  would  Spain  and  Germany.     Wars  made  for 
private    ends   are   afterwards   carried   on   for   "the   public 
good,"  and  in  defence  of  "the  liberties  of  Europe,"  which 
will  take  care  of  themselves  whenever  the  ^armies  and  fleets 
of  England  and  France  shall  disappear,  and  not  until  then. 
Both  countries  should  be  placed  under  bonds  to  keep  the 
peace ;  and  the  peace-loving  portions  of  the  earth  can  take 
those  bonds  when  they  will.     Both  should  be  made  to  turn 
their  attention  homeward :  to  raise  their  own  food :  to  feed 
their  starving  artisans :    to  improve  their  own  morals :    to 
free  their  own  people  from  the  thousand  restrictions  under 
which  they  labour:  and  thus  would  they  set  to  the' world  an 
example  far  more  worthy  to  be  followed  than  when  they  are 
seen  preaching  liberty  and  practising  oppression  :  paying  for 
slaves  in  the  West  Indies,  and  making  slaves  in  the  East  by 
means  of  taxes  on  salt  for  the  payment  of  dividends  on  India 
stock.     Nations  that  pursue  the  natural  system  of  concentra- 
tion will  find  that  the  first  of  all  rules  is  the  simple    one, 
"  Let  every  man  mind  his  own  business."     The  people  of  the 
United  States  possess  the  power  of  compelling  both  nations 
to  follow  this  rule,    for  if  they  determine  on  the  course  that 
is  essential  to  their  prosperity,  it  will  be  followed  throughout 
Europe:  and  then  fleets  and  armies  must  be  abandoned,  and 
colonies  must  be  left  to  exercise  the  right  of  self-government. 
The  "true  grandeur  of  nations"  consists  in  the  perfection 
of  the  self-defensive  power :  and  that  .is  now  possessed  by  the 
United  States  in  a  degree  greater  than  any  other  nation  of  the 
world.   They  have  laid  the  foundation  of  a  pyramid  whose  base 
is  a  million  of  square  miles,  occupied  by  twenty-one  millions 
of  people,  and  filled  with  little  communities,  each  with  its  little 
school-house,  its  church,  and  its  newspaper.     Each  of  these 
little  communities  occupies  space  sufficient  for  a  large  one, 
with  its  academy,  or  its  college,  its  numerous  churches,  its 
newspapers,  its  bookstores,  and  its  libraries,  all  aiding  to  give 
to  the  structure  a  height  proportioned  to  its  base :  and  that 
height  may  be  obtained  whenever  the  planters  and  farmers  of 
3L  38* 


450  THE    FUTURE. 

the  Union  shall  determine  to  exercise  the  right  peaceably  to 
defend  themselves.  Until  they  shall  do  so,  concentration  can- 
not take  place.  Until  they  shall  do  so,  their  people  must  con- 
tinue to  waste  their  labour  upon  poor  soils,  yielding  bushels, 
while  neglecting  rich  ones  that  would  yield  tons.  Whenever 
they  shall  do  so,  they  will  at  once  take  the  place  to  which  they 
are  entitled  by  two  centuries  of  peaceful  action,  in  which 
it  is  difficult  to  discover  a  single  important  error  until  the 
occasion  of  the  present  war :  and  we  cannot  but  hope  that 
they  will  speedily  exhibit  to  the  world  a  specimen  of  real 
greatness,  in  abandoning  a  contest  for  land  that  they  do  not 
want,  with  an  enemy  incapable  of  self-defence.  They  are 
strong,  and  they  can  afford  to  be  generous.  With  England 
and  with  France  lies  the  great  contest,  and  it  is  for  the  exer- 
cise of  power  over  their  own  actions :  for  the  exercise  of  the 
right  to  stay  at  home  and  become  rich  by  the  cultivation  of 
rich  soils,  in  preference  to  flying  from  home  to  remain  'poor 
while  cultivating  poor  ones :  and  every  dollar  spent  in  the 
present  contest  tends  to  lessen  the  power  vigorously  to  main- 
tain that  one  which  is  to  result -in  the  emancipation  of 
the  world  from  the  tyranny  of  fleets  and  armies,  and  the  esta- 
blishment of  perfect  peace.  The  truest  grandeur  consists  in 
the  most  perfect  power  over  ourselves,  our  thoughts  and  ac- 
tions, and  in  conceding  to  all  men  the  exercise  of  the  same 
powers  that  we  desire  for  ourselves.  The  people  of  the 
United  States  do  not  exercise  that  power :  but  they  may  tlo 
so,  and  we  trust  they  will.  Their  position  is  one  of  sur- 
passing strength.  They  are  twenty-one  millions,  among 
whom  there  is  universal  activity  and  intelligence.  Of  these 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  are  the  product  of  the  pre- 
sent year,  and  soon  the  addition  of  a  year  will  reach  a  mil- 
lion. They  have  more  school-houses  and  more  scholars  in 
them,  more  churches  and  more  hearers  in  them,  more  pub- 
lic libraries  and  more  books  in  them,  than  any  other  nation 
of  the  world.  They  have  more  and  better  printing  presses, 
and  they  consume  more  paper ;  and  their  authors  are  better 


THE   FUTURE.  451 

paid.*  They  have  a  mercantile  marine  that  can  perform 
more  service  in  a  given  time  than  any  other.  Their  ma- 
chinery of  manufacture  now  takes  precedence  of  that  of 
England.  They  have  railroads,  canals,  and  magnetic  tele- 
graphs, over  a  surface  of  five  hundred  millions  of  acres.  They 
have  twenty  millions  of  sheep,  five  millions  of  horses  and 
mules,  fifteen  millions  of  cattle,  and  thirty  millions  of  hogs. f 
They  raise  a  thousand  millions  of  bushels  of  food  for  man,  and 
almost  a  thousand  millions  of  pounds  of  cotton  ;  and  this  vast 
product  can  be  doubled  by  the  application  of  the  same 
quantity  of  labour,  whenever  they  shall  determine  that  they 
will  make  their  own  cloth,  and  their  own  iron,  and  by 
thus  placing  the  consumer  by  the  side  of  the  producer 
enable  the  latter  to  cultivate  rich  soils  instead  of  poor  ones. 
So  soon  as  they  shall  have  thus  determined,  thousands  of 
tons  of  the  surplus  machinery  of  England,  and  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  her  artisans,  will  be  seen  leaving  her  shores  to  place 
themselves  where  food  and  cotton  together  grow,  and  where 
liberal  and  constant  wages  will  be  the  reward  of  moderate 
but  steady  labour. 

England  presents  to  view  a  pyramid,  but  an  inverted  one, 
the  apex  of  which  rests  upon  a  vast  population,  a  portion 
of  which  is  uninstructed  to  a  degree  almost  incredible,  while 
another  large  portion  is  instructed  in  a  very  small  degree ; 
and  the  whole  are  wanting  in  the  activity  which  in  the  United 
States  results  from  perfect  self-government.  Piled  on  these  is 
a  vast  poor-house  establishment  with  its  host  of  officers.  On 
this  again  stands  Manchester :  and  on  this  rests  a  large  mass 
of  great  merchants  and  bankers,  trading  largely  on  credit 


*  We  except  from  this  the  authors  of  such  trash  as  « Le  Juif  Errant" 
and  of  histories  whose  object  is  to  teach  that  «  glory"  is  the  great  object  of 
life,  and  that  it  is  to  be  sought  at  any  sacrifice  of  honour  or  honesty.  Such 
writers  are  better  paid  in  France. 

-f-  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  with  a  population  of  twenty-eight  millions, 
have  forty  millions  of  sheep,  two  millions  of  horses,  and  five  millions  of  cattle. 
France,  with  a  population  of  thirty-five  millions,  has  thirty  millions  of  sheep, 
three  millions  of  horses,  seven  millions  of  cuttle,  and  five  millions  of  hogs. 


452  THE   FUTURE. 

If 

and  but  little  on  capital.  On  the  top  of  this  rest  numerous 
great  corporations  making  large  dividends  out  of  7mA  rents, 
and  taxes  on  the  coal  consumed  by  the  artisans  of  London,  or 
the  salt  eaten  by  the  unfortunate  people  of  India:  or  the  pro- 
ceeds of  high  interest  charged  to  unhappy  traders  and  rail- 
road speculators  seduced,  by  liberal  offers  of  loans  at  low  inte- 
rest, to  risk  their  fortunes  and  their  happiness  upon  the  chance 
of  an  approach  towards  steadiness ' in  the  action  of  a. great 
bank,  that  is  governed  by  no  principle  but  that  of  momentary 
expediency.*  On  fop  of  this,  we  see  a  great  Church  collect- 
ing millions  to  be  divided  among  archbishops,  bishops,  pre- 
bends, and  rectors,  while  curates  do  the  work  and  starve  on 
servant's  wages.  Next,  we  see  a  great  aristocracy,  with  vast 
possessions  cultivated  by  men  who  live  in  mud  hovels  and 
earn  nine  shillings  a  week  ;  and  mortgages  so  heavy  that 
record  offices  are  held  in  small  esteem  and  deemed  to  be  un- 
desirable. Piled  on  this,  Pelion  upon  Ossa,  \ve  have  a  fleet 
and  army,  and  colonies,  requiring  a  hundred  jmllions  of  dollars 
annually  for  their  support.  Over  all,  stand  the  ministers 

*  Five  weeks  ago,  when  money  was  selling  in  the  market  at  6  per  cent.,  the 
managers  of  the  Bank  of  England,  having  a  great  mass  of  that  commodity 
accumulating  on  their  hands  belonging  to  the  pubKc,  notwithstanding  that 
their  published  weekly  returns  proclaimed  that  the  value  of  money  was 
bleadily  increasing,  commenced  underselling  their  rivals  in  the  market,  and 
6ffered  their  commodity  at  five  per  cent.  The  immediate  effect  of  this  extra 
iriMte  was  what  is  called  "relief;"  money  was  easier,  traders  obtained  discounts 
rather  more  freely,  and  at  a  lower  rate  than  before,  property  moved,  and  per- 
sons were  tempted  to  accept  contracts  which  they  would  otherwise  have 
rejected.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  weekly  bank  returns  went  on  announcing 
that  the  stock  of  gold  was  diminishing,  and  that  the  natural  value  of  money 
was  enhancing,  and  such  bystanders  as  ourselves  awaited  in  breathless  expec- 
tation the  inevitable  result  of  this  terrific  proceeding  on  the  part  of  the  ma- 
nagers of  the  bank.  It  came — those  managers  met  one  morning  last  week, 
and  found  that  they  had  got  no  more  money  than  they  should  want  for  pay- 
ing the  public  dividends.  They  turned  round  in  an  instant  upon  the  unfor- 
tunates whom  they  had  been  pampering  with  treacherous  nourishment,  (as 
they  had  often  done  before,)  and  whom  they  had  led  and  lulled  into  a  fatal 
security,  and,  by  a  contraction  and  denial  of  loans  more  sudden,  more  perfidi- 
ous, and  more  remorseless  than  we  ever  before  heard  of,  (but  indispensably 
necessary  to  save  themselves*  from  the  consequences  of  the  criminal  act  of 
which  they  had  been  previously  guilty.)  plunged  thousands  into  distress  and 
hundreds  into  ruin — Examiner,  October,  1847. 


THE    FUTURE.  453 

and  great  officers  of  state,  surrounded  by  hosts  of  chancellors 
and  ex-chancellors,  pensioners,  sinecurists,  and  recipients  of 
the  public  moneys,  of  all  grades  and  conditions  of  life,  from 
the  great  Duke  himself  down  to  the  tide-waiter  and  letter- 
sorter. 

The  machine  is  top-heavy.  It  rests  on  the  shoulders  of 
the  very  poor :  upon  those  of  the  little  children  and  poor 
women  of  Manchester :  and  at  the  slightest  disturbance  there, 
it  will  topple  over.*  Such  will  be  the  case  when  the  people 
of  the  United  States  shall  determine  that  they  will  place  the 
consumer  of  food  by  the  side  of  the  producer  of  food  and 
cotton.  That  done,  of  all  this  vast  mass  little  will  remain 
but  the  land  and  the  mortgages :  and  then  machinery  will 
become,  as  it  has  already  somewhat  done,  superabundant, 
and  much  of  it  will  find  its  way  to  America  and  Ireland, 
India  and  Germany.  Mechanics  and  coal  miners  will  be- 
come superabundant,  and  many  will  find  their  way  to  the 
United  States.  Capital,  no  longer  needed  in  manufactures, 
will  go  upon  the  land,  and  food  will  become  more  abundant: 
and  labour  in  agriculture  will  be  more  and  more  needed, 
and  better  paid ;  because  land-owners  will  find  that  they  must 
offer  bounties  to  men  to  stay,  instead  of  granting  premiums 
to  those  who  will  carry  them  into  slavery  in  Van  Diemen's 
land  and  Norfolk  Island.  Systematic  colonization  will  be 
forgotten.  Landlords  will  dispense  with  great  farmers,  and 
manage  their  affairs  themselves :  and  the  return  to  capital  will 
rise,  because  its  employment  will  be  directed  by  mind. 
Great  farms  will  be  broken  into  little  farms,  and  little  farms 

*  The  extreme  unsoundness  of  the  system  is  proved  by  the  apprehensions 
felt  by  the  government  on  every  occasion  of  stoppage  of  work.  The  Britan- 
nia, of  October  23,  says,  «  The  state  of  the  manufacturing  districts  is  so  alarm- 
ing that  government,  though  it  refuses  all  measures  of  relief,  is  providing  a 
strong  military  force  to  keep  the  peace.  At  Carlisle  the  local  authorities  have 
received  warrants  from  Sir  George  Grey,  the  Home  Secretary,  authorizing 
them  to  call  and  enroll  the  pensioners  of  the  district ;  and  a  strong  force  of 
cavalry  is  now  stationed  at  Newridge.  No  one  supposes  that  the  winter  can 
be  got  through,  should  the  distress  not  be  mitigated,  without  some  desperate 
rioting.'* 


454  THE    FUTURE. 

will  require  cottages  ;  and  land  will  be  better  cultivated,  and 
pay  more  rent'.  Land  will  pay  more  taxes,  and  labour  less  : 
and  landlords  will  cease  to  want  fleets,  or  armies,  or  colonies, 
because  they  will  dislike  taxes.  Landlord's  sons  will  have  to 
work,  and  landlord's  properties  will  have  to  be  divided.  Titles 
will  disappear.  The  price  of  perpetual  annuities  will  fall,  and 
the  government  will  be  unable  to  make  loans.*  Great  bank- 
ers will  break  and  little  ones  will  take  their  place.  The 
great  will  become  less,  and  the  little  will  become  greater  and 
stronger ;  and  all  will  become  happier.  Wealth  will  grow 
more  rapidly,  and  wages  will  advance.  Great  corporations 
will  die,  and  little  unions  will  start  into  existence.  Ireland  and 
India  and  Germany  will  be  permitted  to  eat  their  own  food, 
and  make  their  own  cloth  ;  and  England  will  sell  them  steam- 
engines  and  power-looms,  while  for  a  time  she  will  send  the 
people  of  the  United  States  the  finer  articles  that  they  will 
want  in  vast  abundance  when  they  shall  have  acquired  power 
to  make  the  commoner  ones  for  themselves. 

The  people  of  England  are  the  friends  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  They  are  part  and  parcel  of  themselves. 
To  the  aristocracy,  landed,  or  moneyed,  the  latter  owe 
nothing.  They  sent  slaves,  and  because  the  people  of  the 
United  States  fed  and  clothed  them  well,  and  caused  their 
numbers  to  increase,  they  branded  them  as  «  slave  breeders." 
They  seized  the  vessels  of  the  United  States  by  thousands, 
ruining  their  owners,  and  then  reproached  them  as  "bank- 
rupts." They  forced  the  people  to  scatter  to  the  west,  and 
then  forced  loans  upon  them  to  make  roads:  then  ruined 
them,  and  reproached  them  with  «  repudiation."  Time  after 
time  they  have  filled  the  western  world  with  ruin,  and  ruin 
has  invariably  been  followed  by  invective.  To  them,  there 

*  This  operation  is  now  going  on  in  Germany  as  well  as  in  England. 
The  Austrian  government  has  just  prohibited  the  sale  of  railroad  shares,  in 
hopes  of  compelling  capitalists  to  make  investments  in  the  worthless  stock  of 
a  government  by  which  repudiation  has  been  repeatedly  resorted  to,  to  the 
ruin  of  all  who  have  trusted  it.  The  day  of  Austrian  loans  and  power  ia 
over. 


THE    FUTURE.  455 

is  no  friendship  due.  Their  system  is  unsound,  unsteady,  and 
ruinous  to  the  world,  and  to  themselves  ;  and  so  will  it  con- 
tinue until  the  many  shall  have  acquired  more  power,  and 
the  few  shall  exercise  less.  Their  power  hangs  on  fleets, 
and  armies,  and  colonies,  and  when  these  shall  have  passed 
away  order  will  succeed  disorder  and  the  world  may  hope 
for  peace. 

With  each  step  in  this  progress,  England  will  acquire  the 
power  of  self-protection,  which  now  has  no  existence.  Her 
policy  is  dependent  upon  that  of  foreign  nations,  and  hence 
the  endless  waste  upon  diplomacy.  Foreign  tariffs  affright 
her  merchants,_and  compel  the  repeal  of  her  corn  laws. 
The  fear  of  losing  her  supplies  of  cotton  compels  the  aban- 
donment of  the  right  of  search,  and  the  settlement  of  bound- 
ary questions.  She  has  no  fixed  system,  and  she  can  have 
none  :  she  can  exercise  in  no  degree  the  power  of  self- 
government  while  she  relies  on  poor  soils  abroad  in  prefer- 
ence to  rich  ones  at  home.  At  this  moment  her  whole  policy 
is  dependent  on  the  action  of  the  United  States.  If  they  de- 
termine that  they  will  eat  their  own  food,  and  work  up  their 
own  cotton,  and  smelt  their  own  iron  ore,  the  downfall  of  the 
system  of  ships,  commerce,  and  colonies  is  as  certain  to  take 
place  as  it  is  now  certain  that  the  navigation  and  corn  laws 
have  been  repealed.  In  confirmation  of  this  view  we  take 
the  following  passage  from  an  English  journal : 

«  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  date  trading  on  reciprocity  prin- 
ciples at  the  treaties  of  1824  ;  a  still  greater  to  suppose  that 
the  accession  to  these  treaties  by  Great  Britain  was  volun- 
tary, and  that  she  had  it  in  her  power  to  resist  them.  The 
most  indisputable  fact  is,  that  these  treaties  have  each  in 
their  turn  been  as  much  forced  upon  us — that  we  were  as 
much  driven  into  them — as  if  they  had  been  dictated  at  the 
triumphant  cannon's  mouth.  In  1815,  after  the  long,  exhaust- 
ing, desolating  war  with  Bonaparte,  Europe  was  only  too 
eager  to  obtain  any  peace  ;  nations  and  gov**inments  forbade 
longer  destruction,  bloodshed,  and  misery ;  and  then  in  the 


456  THE    FUTURE. 

peace  concluded  between  Great  Britain  and  America,  the 
United  States,  by  the  articles  which  placed  British  and 
American  shipping  on  terms  of  equality  with  each  other,  ex- 
acted such  a  recognition  and  establishment  of  the  principles 
of  reciprocity,  that,  whether  they  demanded  it  sooner  or  later, 
the  concession  of  them  could  no  longer  be  refused  to  other 
nations.  In  fact,  the  United  States,  by  thus  setting  the  ex- 
ample in  this  instance,  as  much  abrogated  our  general  naviga- 
tion laws,  as,  by  resisting  the  search  on  the  high  seas,  they  have 
dealt  the  death-blow  to  that  vexatious  and  presumptuous 
claim.  For  it  was,  and  still  is  becoming  every  day  more 
and  more  apparent,  that  Great  Britain,  as  a  commercial  nation, 
cannot  wage  a  war  of  custom-houses.  To  her,  international 
retaliation  of  duties  would  be  more  fatal  than  defeat  at  Tra- 
falgar and  Waterloo.  Wherefore,  the  threat  of  custom-house 
hostility  repealed  our  navigation  laws — though  our  legislature 
went  through  the  form  of  doing  so,  and  though  Mr.  Huskis- 
son  affected  to  originate  it  in  1824  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
as  a  necessary  and  prudential  measure,  when  he  announced 
the  orders  in  council  and  the  tariff  on  which  the  government 
had  decided."* 

France  presents  to  view  another  great  inverted  pyramid, 
resting  on  the  shoulders  of  the  miserable  people  of  Paris,  one- 
half  of  whom  receive  alms,  in  the  form  of  bread  tickets,  when 
crops  are  short :  and  the  equally  miserable  owners  of  millions 
of  acres  and  half  acres,  cultivated  by  men  who  scarcely  obtain 
the  means  of  subsistence  :  and  the  more  miserable  operatives 
of  Lyons  and  Sedan.  The  part  which  stands  high  in  air,  and 
wrhich  should  be  the  bottom,  is  broad,  and  there  we  see  the 
King  busily  employed  in  raising  materials  from  below  for  the 
purpose  of  widening  the  top ;  creating  appanages  and  vice- 
royalties  for  his  children,  while  all  around  are  watching  for 
the  time  when  the  whole  machine  shall  topple  over,  burying 
in  its  ruins,  king,  princes,  princesses,  appanages,  vice- 

•  New  Quarterly  Review,  p.  136,  vol.  6,  1845. 


THE    FUTURE.  457 

royalties,  and  all  other  of  the  bad  machinery  now  so  exten- 
sively in  use.  Let  but  the  people  of  the  United  States  de- 
termine that  they  will  place  the  consumer  by  the  side  of  the 
producer,  and  thousands  of  the  most  useful  men  in  that 
country  :  great  and  little  capitalists,  and  the  best  operatives  of 
all  descriptions  :  will  transfer  themselves  to  the  place  where 
labour  is  in  demand,  wages  are  high,  and  food  is  abundant.* 
Then  will  it  become  necessary  to  offer  them  inducements  to 
stay  at  home  :  then  will  the  people  acquire  power :  and  then 
may  the  world  see  an  approach  to  peace,  for  the  people 
everywhere  love  peace.  Their  rulers  alone  love  war,  and 
war  abounds  where  man  is  cheap  and  food  is  dear. 

France  and  England  are  both  hollow.  With  both  power 
is  apparent,  not  real,  and  both  must  lay  down  their  arms 
when  other  nations  shall  determine  that  they  will  consume 
their  own  food,  and  that  France  and  England  shall  raise  their 
own.  Wealth  alone  gives  power.  France  is  poor.  Eng- 
land is  apparently  very  rich,  but  far  less  so  than  she  appears 
to  be  ;  and  no  better  evidence  of  the  fact  need  be  desired 
than  is  to  be  found  in  the  general  ruin  caused  by  the  appro- 
priation of  a  few  millions'  worth  of  land,  and  corn,  and  coal, 
and  iron  ore,  to  the  purpose  of  making  roads.  She  dams 
up  capital,  and  when  it  accumulates  to  the  amount  of  eight 
or  ten  millions  she  fancies  herself  very  rich,  and  commences 
the  investment  of  twenty  or  thirty  millions  :  and  when  the 
work  is  half  done,  half  the  merchants  and  traders  are  ruined, 
and  half  the  operatives  thrown  out  of  work  and  obliged  to 
expend  their  little  savings  in  the  effort  to  obtain  food.f  Such 
has  been  the  course  of  events  in  every  cycle  of  seven  years 


*  «  Workmen !  we  who  are  now  tied,  abused,  chained — who  have  no  rights, 
are  not  cared  for;  no  work,  no  bread,  no  future,  as  at  present — let  us  go  and 
seek  elsewhere,  for  the  Providence  or  nature  which  offers  us  all  the  treasures 
of  their  love  and  beneficence.  Let  us  go  and  make  the  foundations  of  Icaria 
on  the  American  land." — Le  Populaire. 

f  The  Times  says,  that  « England  is  poor."  England  is  veiy  much  less 
rich  than  the  world  is  accustomed  to  believe.  She  wastes  tqo  much  to  be  very 
rich. 

3M  39 


458  THE    FUTURE. 

for  the  last  half  century,  and  such  will  it  continue  to  be 
until  she  shall  be  compelled  to  raise  her  own  food.  Should 
the  United  States  take  the  lead  in  the  measures  necessary  to 
this  end  by  adopting  vigorous  measures  for  the  specific  end 
of  enabling  themselves  to  dispense  with  the  present  cumbrous 
and  wasteful  machinery  of  exchange,  adopting  for  it  the 
cheap  substitute  that  would  be  afforded  by  placing  the  con- 
sumer side  by  side  with  the  producer,  the  close  of  another 
cycle  of  seven  years  would  almost  see  the  termination  of  the 
system.  With,  its  termination  trade  may  become  free  :  abso- 
lutely free :  for  in  a  natural  state  of  things,  those  who  pos- 
sess abundant  supplies  of  food,  the  great  raw  material  of 
manufacture,  can  need  no  protection. 

With  each  step  in  the  progress  towards  that  point,  the 
people  of  Germany  and  Russia,  and  Spain,  and  Italy,  and 
Ireland,  will  acquire  power  to  consume  more  and  more  the 
food  yielded  by  their  own  soil,  on  the  ground  on  which  it  is 
produced ;  and  with  each  they  will  acquire  power  to  con- 
sume more  clothing,  for  which  they  will  require  more  cotton, 
to  be  paid  for  in  those  commodities  for  which  their  soils  and 
climates  are  best  fitted.  With  each,  exchanges  will  be 
made  more  and  more  directly  between  the  consumer  and  the 
producer,  and  the  existing  barbarous  system  of  sending 
cotton  to  Manchester  to  be  there  spun  for  Germany  and 
Russia ;  and  food  from  Germany  and  Russia  to  be  eaten 
by  those  who  spin  it ;  will  tend  to  pass  away.  With  each, 
the  planter  will  produce  his  cotton  at  less  cost  of  labour, 
and  the  cost  of  exchanging  for  the  products  of  other  por- 
tions of  the  world  will  diminish.  With  each,  the  power 
of  the  peace-loving  portions  of  the  world  will  grow,  while 
that  of  the  war-making  portions  will  decline  ;  and  with  each, 
the  power  of  man  everywhere  over  land  and  over  himself, 
his  thoughts,  his  feelings,  and  his  actions,  will  advance,  with 
a  steady  tendency  towards  the  establishment  of  perfect  self- 
government.  To  the  cotton  planter  this  change  is  almost  in- 
dispensable. So  long  as  England  shall  continue  to  be  the 


THE    FUTURE.  459 

chief  distributor  of  his  great  product,  he  can  know  nothing 
of  self-government,  for  he  must  continue  to  be  subject  to  the 
periodical  revulsions  with  which  that  country  is  afflicted.  At 
the  present  moment  numerous  mills  are  closed,  not  for  want 
of  orders  but  for  want  of  means  to  execute  them,  and  his 
cotton  falls  heavily  in  price  because  of  his  dependence  upon 
English  cotton  manufacturers  who  are  themselves  dependent 
on  the  movements  of  English  banks  and  English  politicians. 
The  intervention  of  England  between  the  producer  in  Ame- 
rica and  the  consumers  of  the  continent  constitutes  a  cum- 
brous, costly,  and  wasteful  portion  of  the  machinery  of  ex- 
change, and  the  substitution  of  direct  intercourse  with  the 
consumer  would  be  attended  with  advantage  similar  to  that 
which  results  from  replacing  the  cart  or  wagon  by  the  rail- 
road car.  The  more  perfect  the  machinery  the  less  is  the 
friction,  and  the  greater  the  power. 


THUS  far,  resistance  to  the  great  error  of  English  policy 
has  been  in  the  form  of  tariffs  having  for  their  object  the 
raising  of  revenue,  and  thereby  affording  incidental  protection 
to  the  consumer  of  food,  and  cotton,  and  wool,  who  desires 
to  place  himself  by  the  side  of  the  producer.  The  system  is 
vicious  and  unsound.  It  is  part  and  parcel  of  that  which  it 
proposes  to  correct :  of  that  which  produces  the  depopulation 
of  India,  and  compels  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  fly 
from  rich  soils  to  poor  ones. 

When  the  government  of  England  prohibited  the  export 
of  machinery  and  the  emigration  of  mechanics,  the  object 
in  view  was  precisely  the  same  that  was  sought  in  dis- 
couraging the  manufacture  of  woollens  in  Ireland,  and  that 
of  nails  in  America  :  in  depriving  the  people  of  the  southern 
provinces  of  this  country  of  the  right  of  exchanging  with 
those  of  the  north,  and  the  people  of  Ireland  from  exchang- 
ing with  those  of  the  West  Indies,  except  through  the  me- 


460  THE    FUTURE. 

dium  of  English  ports  and  English  merchants  :  that  of  esta- 
blishing a  system  of  indirect  taxation. 

How  perfectly  that  object  has  been  accomplished,  we  pro- 
pose now  to  show.  The  man  who  raises  cotton  in  India, 
receives  less  than  one  penny  per  pound  for  it.  When  it 
returns  to  him  from  Manchester  in  the  form  of  cloth,  after 
having  been  dragged  through  the  "  rich  black  clay"  that 
lies  between  him  and  the  Ganges,  it  costs  him  certainly  not 
less  than  four  pence  a  yard.  He  gives,  therefore,  four 
pounds  of  cotton  for  one  yard  of  cloth.  A  pound  of  cot- 
ton will  make  three  yards  of  coarse  cloth.  With  pro- 
per machinery,  such  as  would  be  now  in  India  but  for 
the  determination  of  England  to  tax  the  world  for  the  main- 
tenance of  her  system,  a  pound  of  cotton  could  be  converted 
into  cloth  with  less  labour  than  is  required  for-  the  produc- 
tion of  the  wool  itself.  Such  being  the  case,  a  fair  division 
would  give  the  producer  of  the  cotton  at  least  one-half  of  the 
cloth,  and  he  would  receive  a  yard  and  a  half  for  a  pound, 
whereas  he  now  gives  for  one  yard  four  pounds.  If  we  now 
add  to  this  that  because  of  the  impoverishment  that  is  thus 
produced  he  is  compelled  to  fly  from  the  richest  soils  of  the 
world,  and  apply  himself  to  the  cultivation  of  poor  ones  that 
yield  for  wages  but  two  rupees,  or  one  dollar,  per  month, 
and  for  profits  of  capital  but  sixpence,  or  twelve  cents,  per 
acre,*  we  may  be  enabled  to  form  some  small  conception  of 

*  "  General  Briggs  states,  that  the  greater  portion  of  the  soil  in  the  districts 
ceded  by  the  Nizam  to  the  British  government  in  1800,  was  the  rich  black 
land  termed  cotton  ground.  On  the  occasion  of  the  survey,  made  between 
1803  and  1807,  there  were  entered  in  one  district  only  (Bellary)  1,460,993 
acres  fit  for  producing  cotton,  of  which  91 1,803  were  in  actual  cultivation,  and 
which,  according  to  Dr.  Wight's  table  of  produce,  in  that  part  of  India  should 
have  yielded  98,474,724  pounds:  but  in  1814-15,  we  find  740,845  acres  had 
been  abandoned,  and  that  the  produce  of  the  whole  district  did  not  exceed 
5,278,000  pounds,  instead  of  98,474,724  pounds  a  few  years  before;  and 
strange  to  say,  that  the  same  public  report  shows  that  more  cotton  passed  into 
and  through  the  district  in  the  same  year  from  the  remote  districts  of  the 
Nizam,  than  was  produced  in  the  district  alluded  to.  The  cause  of  the  falling 
off  of  the  cotton  culture  under  our  government  is  but  too  apparent,  for  we 
find  on  the  same  authority,  namely,  the  public  reports  of  the  revenue  collectoi 


THE    FUTURE.  461 

the  extent  of  indirect  taxation  levied  by  England  on  that 
unfortunate  people,  and  we  shall  be  safe  in  placing  it  at 
more  than  twenty  times  the  value  of  all  the  cloth  and  yarn 
produced  in  England  from  all  the  cotton  wool  grown  in 
India,  Egypt,  and  America. 

The  poor  Irishman  is,  by  the  system,  denied  the  use  of 
machinery,  and  he  obtains  one  yard  of  cloth  for  the  same 
quantity  of  grain  or  pork  that  would  give  him  two,  three,  or 
four,  if  he  could  place  the  consumer  by  the  producer.  He 
too  cultivates  poor  lands,  and  then  he  travels  to  England 
and  spends  half  a  dozen  weeks  in  obtaining  a  fortnight's 
wages.  What  is  the  extent  of  the  indirect  taxation  here  it 
would  be  difficult  to  calculate,  but  it  is  quite  sufficient  to 
account  for  all  the  misery  of  Ireland. 

The  planter  in  Tennessee  sells  his  cotton  for  five  cents  per 
pound.  By  the  time  it  reaches  Manchester,  it  costs  eight. 
He  buys  it  back  again,  obtaining  one  yard  of  cloth  for  two 
pounds  of  cotton,  whereas,  if  he  had  the  consumer  of  food  in 
his  neighbourhood,  he  would  obtain  half  the  cloth  yielded 
by  his  cotton,  and  would  have  three  yards  in  place  of  one. 
He  would  then  clear  and  cultivate  rich  soils,  and  would 
obtain  a  bale  to  the  acre  instead  of  half  a  bale,  and  would 
sell  his  timber  instead  of  wasting  it  as  now  he  does. 

The  farmer  of  Ohio  sells  his  wheat,  grown  on  land  that 
yields  ten  bushels  to  the  acre,  at  seventy  cents.  By  the 
time  it  reaches  Manchester  it  is  worth  a  dollar  and  a  half, 
at  which  price,  with  the  addition  of  numerous  charges,  the  far- 
mer buys  it  back :  the  result  of  which  is,  that  he  obtains  for 
the  produce  of  an  acre  of  wheat  ninety  yards  of  cloth,  the 
produce  of  about  thirty  pounds  of  cotton,  for  which  the  pro- 
ducer in  Tennessee  has  received  a  dollar  and  fifty  cents, 
and  which  could  be  converted  into  cloth  for  as  much  more. 

in  1814-15,  that  the  profit  on  cotton,  according  to  his  own  estimate,  did  not 
exceed  six  and  a  half-pence  per  acre,  while,  according  to  the  native  collector, 
whose  account  is  more  likely  to  he  correct,  there  was  a  dead  loss  in  ordinary 
seasons  of  five  pence  per  acre." — 'Economist. 

39* 


462  THE   FUTURE. 

He  cultivates  poor  soils,  whereas,  if  he  had  the  consumer 
by  his  side,  he  might  clear  and  cultivate  rich  ones  that 
would  yield  forty  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  he  too  could  sell  his 
timber. 

What  is  the  extent  of  indirect  taxation  upon  the  people 
of  the  United  States  by  means  of  the  system  may  perhaps 
be  estimated  if  we  take  into  consideration  the  following 
facts : — 

I.  The  labour  annually  expended  in  the  construction  of 
carts,  and  wagons,  and  ships,  that  would  be  unnecessary  if 
the  consumer  and  producer  could  be  permitted  to  take  their 
place  by  the  side  of  each  other,  would  produce  as  many 
mills  and  furnaces  as  would  convert  into  cloth  half  the  cotton 
and  wool  produced,  and  smelt  the  ore  for  making  all  the  iron 
used  in  the  Union.     To  the  carts,  and  wagons,  and  ships,  may 
be  added  the  labour  of  horses  and  mules  employed  in  the  same 
wasteful  work. 

II.  The  time  lost  by  the  persons  employed  in  the  work  of 
unnecessary  transportation  and  exchange  ;  by  those  who  are 
idle  in  whole  or  in  part  for  want  of  a  regular  demand  for 
labour;  and  by  those  who  are  on  the  road  seeking  for.  new 
places  of  residence  ;  is  more  than  would  be  required  for  the 
work  of  converting  all  the  wool  into  cloth,  and  all  the  ore 
into  iron. 

III.  The  labour  that  is  now  given  to  the  work  of  cultivat- 
ing poor  soils  yielding  ten  bushels  to  the  acre,  instead  of 
rich  ones  that  are  capable  of  affording  tons  of  food  by  aid  of 
which  poor  soils  might  be  enriched,  would  yield  double  the 
return  could  the  consumer  take  his  place  by  the  side  of  the 
producer  and  thus  save  the  manure  that  is  now  wasted. 

IV.  The  labour  that  is  now  wasted  in  making  and  repair- 
ing roads  through   new  states  and  territories,  and  among 
scattered  settlements  in  both  old  and  new  states,  if  applied 
to  the  improvement  of  old  roads  would  diminish  annually, 
and  largely,  the  cost  of  transportation  of  those  portions  of 
the  products  of  the  earth  requiring  to  be  exchanged. 


THE    FUTURE.  463 

It  may  safely  be  asserted  that  the  labour  of  man  as  now 
applied  is,  on  an  average,  but  half  as  productive  as  it  would 
be  were  it  possible  for  the  consumer  and  the  producer  to  be 
near  neighbours  to  each  other,  and  if  so,  it  follows  that  the  in- 
direct taxation  by  aid  of  the  colonial  system  is  equal  to  the 
whole  of  the  present  product  of  the  Union,  which  we  have 
estimated  at  two  thousand  millions  of  dollars.  If  we  wish 
evidence  of  the  extent  to  which  taxation  is  pushed  by  aid  of 
this  system,  we  need  only  to  look  to  all  the  colonies  of  Eng- 
land throughout  the  world,  Ireland,  India,  the  West  Indies, 
Canada,  Nova  Scotia,  and  South  Africa,  and  we  shall  find 
exhaustion  and  depopulation  universal,  as  it  must  continue 
to  be  wherever  the  power  of  self-protection  has  no  existence.* 

*  "  Both  from  observation  and  reflection,  I  am  convinced  that  a  state  en- 
tirely destitute  of  manufactures,  whatever  may  be  the  extent  and  nature  of  its 
staple  productions,  will  always  be  inferior  to  one  that  combines  manufactural 
industry  with  agricultural  wealth.  In  the  first  place,  materials  to  a  very  large 
amount,  which  might  be  worked  up  to  advantage,  but  which  will  not  bear  the 
cost  of  distant  transportation,  are  wasted  for  want  of  neighbouring  manufactures. 
In  the  next,  it  is  destitute  of  those  towns  and  villages  that  grow  up  around  such 
establishments,  affording  home  markets  for  the  produce  of  the  farmer,  more 
advantageous  than  those  at  a  distance,  and  supplying  him  with  necessary  ar- 
ticles at  a  cheaper  rate,  the  price  being  diminished  to  the  amount  of  the  cost 
of  transportation.  Again,  manufactures  greatly  increase  the  productive  re- 
sources of  a  country ;  the  use  of  steam  and  water  power,  and  the  vast  num- 
ber of  mechanical  contrivances  and  labour-saving  machines  set  in  motion  by 
them,  augment  to  an  almost  indefinite  extent  the  productive  industry  of  the 
country  ;  while  every  discovery  in  science  applicable  to  the  useful  arts  which 
manufactures  give  rise  to,  adds  still  further  to  its  wealth.  It  is  true  that 
the  application  of  science  to  agriculture  has  increased  its  products,  and  that 
we  have  some  few  labour-saving  machines,  but  how  few  and  insignificant  are 
they  when  compared  with  those  that  multiply  a  thousand-fold  the  industrial 
capital  of  a  manufacturing  district !  Where  manufactures  exist,  the  indivi- 
duals interested  in  their  success  and  prosperity,  from  their  proximity  to  each 
other,  easily  unite  their  efforts  for  all  purposes  of  common  interest,  and  good 
roads  and  canals  result  naturally  from  such  combinations,  and  convenient  lines 
of  communication  are  everywhere  established,  so  as  to  give  to  each  one  his 
fair  share  of  the  advantages  of  trade.  We,  on  the  contrary,  live  far  apart,  and 
meet  but  rarely  to  take  into  consideration  our  common  interests ;  and  when 
we  do  meet,  we  remain  together  too  short  a  time  to  originate  or  perfect  any 
great  measure  of  general  improvement.  In  purely  agricultural  districts,  there- 
fore, the  products  of  industry  find  their  way  to  market  by  miserable  roads  and 
circuitous  lines  of  communication,  to  the  great  loss  and  inconvenience  of  the 
farmer." — Poinsett's  Address  to  the  South  Carolina  State  Agricultural  Society. 


464  THE   FUTURE. 

The  benefit  to  the  man  who  plunders  towns  is  small  com- 
pared with  the  injury  inflicted  upon  those  who  are  plundered. 
So  is  it  with  taxation,  direct  or  indirect.  The  amount  produced 
is  small  when  compared  with  the  loss  that  is  caused  by  com- 
pelling men  to  cultivate  poor  soils,  wrhen  they  might  have  rich 
ones  werenhey  enabled  to  improve  their  machinery  of  cultiva- 
tion. England  gains  nothing  by  this  course  of  action.  While 
thus  taxing  all  the  world  to  an  amount  almost  inconceivable, 
she  pays  heavily  herself.  She  drives  capital  from  employment 
that  would  be  profitable  to  that  which  is  unprofitable— from 
the  cultivation  of  her  own  soil  to  the  fashioning  of  the  pro- 
ducts of  other  soils — and  the  consequence  is  that  the  profits 
derived  from  its  use  are  less  by  more  than  one-half  than  they 
would  otherwise  be.  She  drives  labour  from  the  profitable 
to  the  unprofitable,  and  wages  are  also  less  by  one-half. 
Capital  is  cheap  and  governments  borrow  readily  for  the 
purposes  of  war ;  and  man  is  cheap  while  food  is  dear,  and 
therefore  men  are  readily  hired  foe  the  purpose  of  keeping  in 
subjection  the  people  of  England,  Ireland,  and  India,  while 
undergoing  the  operation  of  having  extracted  from  them  a 
large  portion  of  the  small  wages  they  are  permitted  to  earn. 
The  system  is  unnatural  and  unsteady,  and  therefore  it  is  that 
her  workmen  are  often  unemployed  by  tens  of  thousands, 
while  at  other  times  they  are  overworked  :  and  therefore  too 
it  is  that  her  neighbours  are  perpetually  ruined  by  its  unceas- 
ing instability. 

To  the  unsoundness  of  the  system  it  is  due  that  through- 
out the  world  protective  tariffs  exist,  having  for  their  object 
the  exclusion  of  British  manufactures.  Nothing  less  could 
have  introduced  the  system  of  protection  into  these  United 
States.  Everywhere,  however,  it  has  been  attempted  to  cor- 
rect error  resulting  from  the  effort  by  England  at  indirect 
taxation,  by  other  error  in  desiring  to  use  tariffs  as  a  means 
of  similar  taxation  at  home.  It  has  been  the  substitution 
of  plunder  by  a  pickpocket  for  that  of  a  highwayman.  The 
whole  system  of  indirect  taxation  is  mere  petty  larceny.  It 


THE   FUTURE.  465 

is  an  attempt  to  filch  that  which  cannot  be  openly  demanded. 
It  is  one  of  those  « inventions"  of  man  by  which  the  few 
are  enabled  to  grow  rich  at  the  expense  of  the  many,  and  is 
therefore  greatly  favoured  by  that  class  of  men  who  prefer  living 
by  the  labour  of  others  to  living  by  their  own.  The  man  who 
plunders  a  city  is  of  the  same  species  with  the  highway  rob- 
ber. The  one  who  imposes  indirect  taxes  is  of  the  same 
species  with  the  chevalier  ^Industrie.  All  belong  to  the  ge- 
nus of  great  men.  All  are  equally  destitute  of  manly  or 
generous  feeling.  The  plunderer  of  cities  selects  those  which 
are  weak  and  defenceless,  and  the  collector  of  indirect  taxes 
selects  the  commodities  used  by  poor  men  who  cannot  de- 
fend themselves,  and  where  the  system  most  prevails  men 
are  most  weak  and  cheap,  and  food  most  dear. 

In  India  it  is  found  in  perfection.  The  Company  taxes 
princes  and  sovereigns  by  millions,  and  through  them  their 
subjects.  It  then  seizes  on  salt,  and  retails  it  at  a  profit 
of  from  eight  hundred  to  fifteen  hundred  per  cent.  Next,  it 
taxes  commodities  on  their  way  to  and  from  market,  wher- 
ever they  can  be  found,  and  then  hands  over  its  poor  subjects 
to  the  tender  mercies  of  judges,  generals,  captains  and  lieu- 
tenants, zemindars,  mundils,  potails,  and  all  others  of  the  genus 
whose  forte  lies  in  picking  pockets  with  dexterity. 

France  has  always  been  governed  by  financiers,  stock- 
jobbers, and  other  members  of  the  same  great  family,  and 
there  the  system  is  carried  to  greater  perfection  than  else- 
where in  Europe.  The  government  takes  all  that  can  be 
obtained  by  direct  taxes,  then  seizes  on  salt,  tobacco,  and 
all  other  of  the  commodities  used  by  little  men,  and  then 
leaves  them  in  charge  of  innumerable  subordinates  engaged 
in  abstracting  from  their  pockets  by  taxes  at  the  gates  of 
towns,  monopolies,  interest  upon  innumerable  mortgages, 
and  endless  fees  to  lawyers,  most  of  the  little  that  is  left. 

England  exhibits  the  same  system  on  a  grand  scale.     The 
nation  taxes  the  world,  and  each  portion  of  it  that  exercises 
power  is  engaged  in  the  same  great  work  at  home.     That 
3N 


466  THE    FUTURE. 

portion  which  calls  itself  "The State"  seizes  on  sugar,  and 
coffee,  and  tea,  and  all  other  of  the  commodities  used  by 
little  men,  and  thus  levies  contributions  that  could  not  other- 
wise be  obtained.  The  land-holder  picks  pockets  by  aid  of 
corn  laws.  Railroad  kings  plunder  the  unhappy  traveller  by 
high  fares,  and  hereditary  legislators  pick  his  pocket  by 
doubling  the  cost  of  making  the  road.  Lawyers  oppose 
local  courts  lest  they  should  diminish  fees.  The  Bank  makes 
loans  at  two  per  cent.,  and  renews  them  to  the  almost  ruined 
debtor  at  nine.  The  city  of  London  taxes  transportation  by 
seizing  on  the  poor  carter  and  taxing  his  cart,  that  he  may 
contribute  to  the  Lord  Mayor's  dinner.  The  number  en- 
gaged in  the  work  of  indirect  taxation — in  that  of  picking 
pockets  by  aid  of  monopolies  and  restrictions — is  great,  and 
the  business  appears  to  be  profitable ;  but  it  is  one  that, 
like  all  other  of  the  modes  of  plunder,  yields  small  return 
to  the  capital  and  labour  that  are  employed. 

Where  highwaymen  are  numerous,  pickpockets  will  always 
abound.  Where  wars  are  frequent,  indirect  taxes  will  be 
numerous,  and  the  people  will  be  poor.  The  people  of  the 
United  States,  happily,  have  preserved  peace  more  steadily 
than  other  nations  ;  the  consequence  of  which  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  indirect  taxes  are  fewer,  and  the  class  that  lives  by 
the  labour  of  others  is  smaller  than  in  other  parts  of  the 
world.  In  the  south  and  west,  where  poor  soils  are  cul- 
tivated and  land  is  held  in  large  quantities,  many  modes  of 
indirect  taxation  may  be  found.  Some  States  own  banks, 
and  others  make  canals  and  railroads,  by  aid  of  all  of  which 
taxes  are  collected  from  the  many  to  be  expended  by  the 
few.  Pennsylvania  presents  to  view  a  considerable  class 
that  lives  by  the  labour  of  others,  and  various  modes  of  pick- 
ing pockets  by  aid  of  indirect  taxation  have  been  there  in 
use.  With  the  gradual  substitution  of  direct  taxation,  the 
class  is  becoming  less  numerous,  and  soon  we  may  hope  to 
see  it  disappear.  In  New  Jersey,  we  find  an  ingenious 
compound  of  highway  robbery  and  petty  larceny.  The 


THE    FUTURE.  461 

State  sells  to  a  Company  distinguished  for  its  rapacity,  the 
exclusive  privilege  of  transporting  passengers  and  merchan- 
dise by  railroad  between  the  two  principal  cities  of  the 
Union ;  the  consequence  of  which  is  th?.t  they  are  worse 
accommodated,  at  higher  cost,  than  in  any  other  part  of 
the  country  where  the  same  amount  of  business  is  done. 
The  Company  puts  the  pistol  to  the  head  of  the  traveller, 
and  the  State  picks  his  pocket  of  its  fee.  The  nation  is  thus 
taxed  to  the  amount  of  millions  by  means  of  the  money  that 
is  thus  extorted,  and  by  vast  interferences  with  trade  and 
travel.  The  State  itself  loses,  because  high  freights  pre- 
vent the  clearing  of  its  land  which  remains  in  many  places 
a  wilderness  where  it  should  be  a  garden  :  and  thus  at  the 
cost  of  millions  it  acquires  a  revenue  equal  to  little  more 
than  one  cent  per  acre  of  its  surface. 

New  York  makes  canals,  and  then,  to  avoid  laying  direct 
taxes,  imposes  a  tax  on  all  merchandise  carried  on  rail- 
roads, with  a  view,  apparently,  to  prevent  the  clearing  and 
drainage  of  its  best  lands,  which  yet  remain  in  a  state  of 
nature.  Here  we  find  the  practice  of  petty  larceny  on  an 
extensive  scale.  That  the  State  may  borrow  money  cheaply 
by  reason  of  its  obligations  commanding  a  high  price  in  the 
market,  its  creditors  are  invested  with  a  monopoly  of  furnish- 
ing that  species  of  currency  that  men  most  desire  to  use,  to 
wit,  bank  notes ;  and  by  aid  of  this  grant  they  are  enabled 
to  impose  heavy  taxes  upon  those  who  use  them,  by  paying 
them  out  at  par  and  buying  them  in  at  a  discount :  whereas, 
were  the  trade  in  money  free,  notes  would  be  supplied  that 
would  be  always,  and  everywhere  through  the  State,  at  par. 
That  trade  has  in  all  ages  been  found  by  legislators,  whether 
hereditary  or  elective,  to  afford  a  convenient  mode  of  picking 
pockets,  and  therefore  it  has  been  kept  always  under  their 
especial  care,  and  where  most  cared  for  the  robbery  has  in- 
variably been  greatest.  Here,  however,  the  system  is  likely 
soon  to  see  its  close,  for  here  the  people  have  acquired  ai> 
increase  of  power. 


468  THE    FUTURE. 

New  England  is,  more  than  any  other  part  of  the  world, 
free  from  this  system  of  plunder.  Massachusetts  expends 
two  millions,  all  of  which,  with  the  exception  of  a  very  in- 
jurious tax  on  bank  stock,  and  another  on  sales  by  auction, 
is  honestly  taken  in  the  form  of  taxes  demanded  directly  from 
the  owner  of  the  property  himself.  The  people  there  culti- 
vate all  their  soils.  They  know  what  they  pay  for,  and 
they  receive  value  for  their  money.  The  pickpocket  collec- 
tor of  indirect  taxes  has  little  existence  there. 

In  the  government  of  the  Union,  on  the  contrary,  the  sys- 
tem of  indirect  taxation  is  universal.  The  forms  it  assumes 
are  different  at  different  times.  Sometimes  duties  are  speci- 
fic, and  the  honest  man  then  pays  no  more  than  his  dishonest 
neighbour.  At  other  times  they  are  ad  valorem,  and  then  the 
pickpocket,  by  aid  of  a  false  invoice,  collects  his  share  of  the 
indirect  taxation  by  paying  less  duty  than  his  honest  neigh- 
bour. The  few  who  employ  themselves  in  managing  the 
affairs  of  the  many :  those  who  trade  in  politics :  have  availed 
themselves  of  the  necessity  for  protection  against  the  per- 
petual and  enormous  error  of  the  English  system  to  establish 
revenue  tariffs  with  incidental  protection,  and  thus  to  swell 
the  amount  of  taxes  to  thirty  millions  of  dollars,  by  aid  of 
which  armies  of  officers,  civil,  military,  and  naval,  are  sup- 
ported, and  wars  are  made,  and  loans  are  effected :  whereas, 
were  the  system  of  direct  taxation  once  adopted  wars  would 
become  impossible,  for  no  chief  magistrate  would  dare  to  re- 
commend one  for  which  the  people  were  to  be  required  to 
pay  down  in  taxes  upon  their  lands,  their  houses,  and  their 
merchandise. 

As  we  pass  from  the  north  and  east,  the  land  where  popu- 
lation is  most  numerous  and  land  least  abundant,  to  the 
south  and  west,  where  land  most  abounds  and  men  cultivate 
the  poorer  soils,  the  love  of  war  increases,  and  wars  flow  from 
indirect  taxation.  If  we  desire  to  diminish  the  love  of  war 
we  must  diminish  the  power  of  the  few  to  impose  such  taxes. 
That  power  is  greatest  where  men  are  most  scattered,  and 


THE    FUTURE.  469 

every  increase  in  the  tendency  to  depopulation  tends  to  in- 
crease that  power,  while  every  increase  in  the  tendency  to 
concentration  tends  to  its  diminution.  If  we  wish,  then,  that 
the  whole  people  shall  become  as  rich,  and  strong,  and  free 
and  peaceful,  as  the  people  of  Massachusetts,  we  must  place 
the  consumer  by  the  side  of  the  producer  in  Pennsylvania, 
Virginia,  South  Carolina,  and  other  States,  and  thus,  enable 
the  latter  to  cultivate  rich  soils,  instead  of  compelling  the  for- 
mer to  fly  to  Oregon  or  Texas,  there  to  become  himself  a  pro- 
ducer, cultivating  poor  ones. 

Concentration,  even  to  its  present  extent,  cannot  be  main- 
tained without  protection.  To  repeal  even  the  existing  tariff 
would  be  to  drive  to  the  west,  there  to  raise  food  from  poor 
soils,  the  men  who  now  cultivate  rich  ones,  and  with  each 
step  the  power  of  the  few  to  obtain  large  revenues  by  indi- 
rect taxation,  and  the  power  to  make  wars,  would  increase. 
If  we  desire  to  preserve  peace,  we  must  arrest  the  progress 
of  depopulation  and  promote  concentration  upon  rich  soils, 
and  that  can  be  done  only  by  increased  protection,  by  aid  of 
a  tariff' that  is  not  for  revenue — a  tariff  whose  direct  object 
shall  be  that  of  establishing  the  right  of  every  man  to  deter- 
mine for  himself  where  he  will  live,  and  how  he  will  employ 
his  labour,  or  his  capital,  or  both.  What  is  needed  is  a  dis- 
tinct declaration  of  a  determination  on  the  part  of  the  whole 
nation,  farmers  and  planters,  to  pursue  the  course  necessary 
for  bringing  the  consumer  of  cotton,  and  wool,  and  food,  to 
the  side  of  the  producers  of  those  commodities  :'  for  bringing 
the  lapstone  to  the  hides  and  the  food,  instead  of  carrying  the 
hides  and  the  food  to  the  lapstone  :  and  thus  to  terminate  the 
system  of  indirect  taxation  by  both  England  and  France,  and 
to  annihilate,  by  means  of  measures  of  peaceful  but  vigorous 
resistance,  the  power  of  those  countries  to  disturb  the  world 
by  means  of,  fleets  and  armies.  Were  such  a  measure  once, 
deliberately  adopted  as  the  policy  of  the  whole  nation,  eva- 
sion of  its  provisions  would  be  impossible,  for  all,  males  and 
females,  old  and  young,  rich  and  poor,  land-owner  and  la- 

40 


470  THE    FUTURE. 

bourer,  would  feel  that  their  own  interests  were  directly  con- 
cerned in  their  enforcement.  All  would  feel  that  the  object 
in  view  was  the  establishment  of  their  own  right  to  cultivate 
rich  soils  instead  of  poor  ones,  and  to  receive  large  wages 
and  large  rents  instead  of  small  ones.  The  example  once 
set  and  its  object  distinctly  avowed  by  the  United  States,  it 
would  be  followed  by  every  nation  in  Europe,  and  then  capi- 
tal, in  the  form  of  machinery,  would  be  seen  travelling  to 
place  itself  by  the  side  of  the  food,  the  cotton,  the  wool,  and 
the  iron  ore,  and  mechanics  and  labourers  would  seek  the 
lands  where  food  was  cheap  and  man  was  dear.  A  brief 
period  of  determined  action  would  suffice  to  restore  the  equi- 
librium, now  disturbed,  between  the  demand  for,  and  the 
supply  of,  both  labour  and  capital  in  England  and  France. 
Both  would  cease  to  be  superabundant,  and  landlords  would 
be  found  paying  high  interest  for  the  one,  and  high  wages 
to  secure  the  services  of  the  other.  The  effort  then  would  be 
to  retain  both  at  home,  and  contrivances  for  expelling  them 
would  pass  out  of  use.  Food  would  become  cheap,  while 
man  would  become  dear,  and  the  power  to  maintain  large 
armies  would  soon  cease  to  exist.  Labourers  would  then 
vote,  and  then  taxes  would  be  laid  on  land  :  and  then  fleets, 
and  armies,  and  colonies  would  pass  out  of  existence,  while 
custom-houses  would  be  turned  into  factories. 

In  a  natural  state  of  things,  the  people  of  the  United 
States  can  manufacture  more  cheaply  than  any  nation  of  the 
world.  The  mechanic  wants  food,  and  lodging,  and  cloth- 
ing. The  first  they  have  in  vast  abundance,  and  the  mate- 
rials for  the  others  equally  abound.  All  that  is  wanted  is 
that  the  shoemaker  with  his  lapstone  shall  be  permitted  to 
take  his  place  by  the  side  of  the  hides  and  the  food,  as  he 
would  long  since  have  done  but  for  the  existence  of  a  dis- 
turbing force  of  prodigious  power,  that  needs  nqw  a  decided, 
and  vigorous,  and  united,  exertion  for  its  correction.  So  long 
as  it  shall  be  permitted  to  exist,  depopulation  and  the  sys- 
tem of  large  revenues  raised  by  means  of  indirect  taxation, 


THE    FUTUBE.  471 

to  be  squandered  by  those  who  live  by  managing  the  affairs 
of  others,  must  continue.  So  long  as  it  exists,  the  planter 
and  farmer  must  continue  to  cultivate  poor  soils  instead  of 
rich  ones,  and  to  give  a  large  portion  of  their  small  product 
in  exchange  for  a  small  quantity  of  clothing.  So  long  as  it 
exists,  every  attempt  at  the  establishment  of  freedom  of  trade 
must  be  a  failure.  With  its  correction,  every  obstacle  to  the 
establishment  of  perfect  freedom  will  disappear,  and  the 
tariff  will  pass  out  of  existence.  Its  enactment  would  be  a 
declaration  of  war  for  the  establishment  of  peace  and  free 
trade,  and  when  the  object  of  the  war  should  be  attained  a 
continuance  of  hostilities  would  be  found  unnecessary. 

The  interest  of  every  farmer  and  planter,  and  of  every  la- 
bourer and  mechanic,  is  directly  concerned  in  the  adoption  of  a 
measure  of  this  kind,  and  one  that  shall  be  calculated  promptly 
to  produce  the  effect  desired ;  but  it  is  not  more  his  interest  than 
it  is  his  duty.  So  long  as  the  present  system  shall  endure, 
trade  of  every  kind  must  continue  subject  to  the  violent  fluc- 
tuations which  enable  the  few  to  enrich  themselves  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  many,  and  enable  gambling  speculators  to  live 
in  palaces  and  ride  in  coaches  by  aid  of  the  indirect  taxation 
levied  upon  the  hard-working  mechanic  and  honest  trader 
ruined  by  changes  in  the  value  of  their  property.  So  long  as 
it  shall  continue  to  endure,  usury  laws  must  continue  to  exist, 
whereas,  when  trade  shall  once  be  permitted  to  take  its  natu- 
ral course,  it  will  be  found  that  of  all  commodities  money  is 
the  one  that  tends  most  to  permanence  of  value.  So  long 
as  it  shall  endure,  England  will  continue  to  maintain  expen- 
sive establishments  on  barren  rocks  that  she  may  be  enabled, 
by  aid  of  the  smuggler,  to  set  at  defiance  every  effort  at  con- 
centration on  the  part  of  the  people  of  Spain,  Italy,  and  Ger- 
many, and  so  long  must  false  invoices  and  perjury  character- 
ize the  whole  of  her  foreign  trade.  So  long  as  it  shall  en- 
dure, the  people  of  the  United  States  must  continue  to  bar- 
barize themselves  by  flying  from  friends,  relatives,  school- 
houses,  and  churches:  those  of  Ireland  must  continue  to 


472  THE    FUTURE. 

shoot  landlords  and  landlord's  agents :  and  those  of  India  to 
play  the  part  of  assassins,  under  the  name  of  thugs  and 
phansigars.  It  is  therefore  the  bounden  duty  of  every  man 
desirous  to  promote  the  great  cause  of  morality,  of  justice, 
and  of  truth,  to  unite  his  efforts  with  those  of  his  neighbour 
for  the  early  accomplishment  of  the  great  object. 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  what  will  become  of  the  revenue  ? 
Tariffs  for  revenue  should  have  no  existence.  Interferences 
with  trade  are  to  be  tolerated  only  as  measures  of  self-pro- 
tection. Every  man  who  enjoys  security  should  contribute 
directly  for  its  maintenance,  and  then  he  would  have  cheap 
government,  and  good  government.  With  every  step  in  the 
progress  towards  placing  the  consumer  by  the  side  of  the  pro- 
ducer there  would  be  diminished  necessity  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  costly  missions  and  expensive  negotiations,  and  the 
trader  in  politics  would  have  diminished  chances  of  profit  or 
distinction.  Great  men  would  become  less,  while  the  little 
men  :  those  wTho  minded  their  own  business  :  would  become 
greater.  With  the  abolition  of  British  and  French  fleets  and 
armies  the  necessity  for  maintaining  American  fleets  and 
armies  would  diminish  and  finally  pass  away,  while  the 
power  of  self-defence  would  increase,  by  the  concentration  of 
population  and  increase  of  means  of  intercourse.  Men  would 
cease  to  disperse  themselves  so  widely  over  the  west.  Colo- 
nization would  proceed  naturally,  and  colonists  would  cease 
to  require  forts  or  troops  to  defend  them,  because  they  would 
be  strong  in  union  with  each  other,  and  because  they  would 
cease  to  press  so  heavily  upon  the  poor  natives  of  the  forest. 
Trade  with  the  consumers  of  cotton,  and  of  other  of  the  com- 
modities produced  in  the  Union,  would  increase  as  those  con- 
sumers were  more  and  more  enabled  to  consume  their  own 
food,  and  the  power  to  maintain  ships  would  increase  as  the 
necessity  for  dependence  upon  them  diminished.  The  ocean 
would  be  covered  with  steam-ships  capable  of  defending 
themselves,  and  also  capable  of  being  converted  into  ships 
of  war  should  war  occur  in  self-defence,  but  wars  would 


THE    FUTURE.  473 

cease.  The  people  everywhere  love  peace,  as  will  be  fully 
shown  when  the  system  of  indirect  taxation  at  home,  and 
that  of  ships,  colonies,  and  commerce  abroad :  the  systems 
which  great  men  patronize :  shall  have  seen  their  end,  a 
consummation  devoutly  to  be  wished.  By  degrees  expor- 
tations  of  food  would  cease,  except  in  the  form  of  cloth, 
or  yarn,  or  iron,  or  other  manufactured  commodities :  and 
importations  would  become  limited  to  those  commodities  for 
which  the  climate  was  unsuited,  or  those  finer  articles  on 
which  small  duties  could  alone,  under  any  circumstances, 
be  levied,  of  which  the  consumption  would  be  vastly  in- 
creased, to  the  improvement  of  both  knowledge  and  taste. 
Revenue  and  expenditure  would  fall  together,  and  ultimately 
it  might,  and  we  think  would,  prove  that  five  millions  of 
dollars  would  more  than  suffice  for  all  the  necessary  expenses 
of  a  people  of  thirty  millions,  while  the  product  of  those 
thirty  millions  would  be  more  than  double  that  of  the  pre- 
sent twenty-one  millions.  That  sum  would  be  equal  to  one- 
sixth  of  a  dollar  per  head,  and  it  might  be  raised  without 
the  necessity  for  a  single  revenue  officer  of  the  general 
government.  With  each  step  in  the  progress  of  diminu- 
tion in  the  quantity  of  the  machinery  of  exchange,  its  qua- 
lity would  improve,  and  men  would  travel  by  thousands 
where  now  go  hundreds ;  their  power  of  locomotion,  and 
their  disposition  to  see  the  world  increasing  as  the  necessity 
therefor  diminished :  and  ultimately  it  would  be  seen  that 
in  a  natural  state  of  things  man  and  machinery  move,  and 
food  tends  to  stay  at  home :  whereas,  in  Europe,  where  he  is 
kept  poor,  it  is  held  that  man  is  the  most  difficult  of  all 
commodities  to  be  moved.  Man  and  machinery  can  afford 
to  pay  high  freights,  while  fuel  and  food  must  be  carried 
cheaply,  or  not  at  all.  The  increased  transport  of  the  former, 
and  more  valuable,  commodities,  would  tend  to  give  perfect 
roads  and  perfect  ships,  and  both  man  and  machinery  would 
travel  at  far  less  cost  than  now*. 

The  first  and  great  desire  of  man  is  that  of  maintaining  and 


474  THE    FUTURE. 

improving  his  condition.  With  each  step  in  the  progress  ot 
concentration,  his  physical  condition  would  improve,  because 
he  would  cultivate  more  fertile  lands,  and  obtain  increased 
power  over  the  treasures  of  the  earth.  His  moral  condition 
would  improve,  because  he  would  have  greater  inducements 
to  steady  and  regular  labour ;  and  the  reward  of  good  con- 
duct would  steadily  increase.  His  intellectual  condition 
would  improve,  because  he  would  have  more  leisure  for 
study,  and  more  power  to  mix  with  his  fellow  men  at  home 
or  abroad ;  to  learn  what  they  knew,  and  to  see  what  they 
possessed ;  while  the  reward  of  talent  would  steadily  increase, 
and  that  of  mere  brute  wealth  would  steadily  decline.  His 
political  condition  would  improve,  because  he  would  acquire 
an  increased  power  over  the  application  of  his  labour  and 
of  its  proceeds.  He  would  be  less  governed,  better  go- 
verned, and  more  cheaply  governed :  and  all  because  more 
perfectly  self-governed. 


NOTE. — We  take  the  following  from  the  last  (October)  number  of  the 
Edinburgh  Review: — "If  we  are  unjust  enough,  and  insane  enough,  to 
allow  a  combination  for  retaliatory  measures  of  this  description  to  be  once 
formed,  there  is  no  knowing  to  what  purposes  it  may  not  be  afterwards  ap- 
plied. One  of  our  greatest  perils  is  the  universal  jealousy  of  our  commercial 
power.  We  would  piously  hope  that  our  legislators  may  be  just,  and  fear 
not.  But  we  must  be  just.  Retaliation,  once  entered  upon,  will  not  be  con- 
fined to  Europe.  The  United  States  of  America  are  never  backward  in  press- 
ing their  supposed  interests,  and  in  extorting  privileges  from  others.  We  now 
export  to  those  states  large  quantities  of  the  produce  of  every  region.  Our 
trade  with  America  involves  a  hundred  interests,  of  which,  if  our  cotton  ma- 
nufactures are  the  greatest,  they  are  but  one.  Let  the  legislature  of  Washing- 
ton pass  a  Navigation  Law,  in  all  respects  the  counterpart  of  our  own  !  We 
need  say  no  more.  But  we  are  shocked  to  think  into  what  a  condition  the  fol- 
lowing out  of  our  example  would  bring  the  world." 

The  time  has  come  for  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  insist  upon  the 
enjoyment  by  their  ships  of  every  right  conceded  to  those  of  England,  and  the 
people  of  the  continent  of  Europe  are  fully  prepared  to  second  them.  The 
time  has  come  for  the  abolition  of  the  system  of  indirect  taxation  by  which  the 
nations  of  the  world  are  compelled  to  contribute  towards  the  maintenance  of 
fleets  and  armies  employed  in  disturbing  the  repose  of  the  world,  and  the 
more  vigorous  the  measures  the  sooner  shall  we  see  arrive  the  sera  of  universal 
peace  and  universal  freedom  of  trade. 

THE   END. 


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